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MUNICIPAL FLAG CITY OF 
EASTON, PA. 




FAC-SIMILE FIRST COMBINATION OF THE 
STARS AND STRIPES 



Historic Easton 

From the Window of a Trolley-Car 

By WILLIAM J. YiELLER 

President of the Northampton County Historical and Genealogical Society^ 

member of the Pennsylvania Historical Society, Bucks County 

Historical Society, I,ehigh County Historical Society, 

the Pennsylvania-German Society and the 

George Washington Memorial 

Association 



EASTON, PA. 
1911 



Being a reprint of a series of articles published in The Pennsylvania* 

German magazine during the year 1911, to which is added the story 

of the Treaty of Easton and other items of local interest 






Copyrighted by 

WILLIAM J. HELLER 

Elaston, Pa. 

1912 



ITHE EXPRESS PRINTING CO,. INC.. PUBWSHERS 
LITITZ, PA. 



©CLa"3xJ81:P 




Mmnai .Jen^i, ^^nirmr/er o/ Srr^/oti 



PREFACE 

It is the fragmentary remains that survived the ruthless plow shear 
of the middle period, when sentiment of former times had become lost 
and the historical interest of modern times was not yet cultivated, that 
we of today diligently gather and weave into their original form of song 
and stor3^ 

Much that might by chance aid in the solution of these problems is 
often presented in a more perplexing form; that which is obscure and 
unintelligible to the interpreter through whom they now speak, will likely 
remain forever a sealed book. Traditions were the principle source of 
information of all early historical writers, and even after being shorn of 
all exaggerated embellishments that from time to time had been added, 
while true in the main, were but little more than distorted facts ; their 
continued repetition by subsequent writers even in a revised form, but 
lacking verification as to their correctness through research of original 
sources, is unpardonable. 

Such stories, while producing interesting reading, are unreliable and 
misleading to the student of history, to whom they are of but little or 
no value whatever. 

It was by reason of the erroneous impression these stories had 
created in the public mind that provoked this Historical Excursion. The 
author does not claim for it the dignity of a History, yet the brief and 
impartial statements of historical events are correct. It is not written in 
consecutive, chronological arrangement, but is divided into four journeys 
from a common center, thus creating a division of what might be termed 
statistics and assuming an attractive and readable form, avoiding the 
necessity of any references and explanatory comparisons with that which 
has already been published. 



FIRST JOURNEY 

WESTWARD ON NORTHAMPTON STREET 



a 



PLEASANT summer afternoon, a delightful anticipa- 
tion of an historical excursion in an open trolley car, 
may provoke a reminiscent mood and cause a desire 
to stop in the mad whirl of the American momentum ; 
recall the delights recorded in one's memory, which 
appeal to the thoughts of the moment, and are again stored away 
indefinitely. 

If reminiscence is but a pleasant melancholy, and ignorance 
is bliss, then surely 'tis folly to be wise. Come with us for the 
time and imagine yourself occupying a comfortable seat in a 
specially equipped car of the Easton Transit Company, in one of 
the shady corners of the public square in the city of Easton, Pa., 
ready for a trip. 

Blind, indeed, to the perfection of God's handiwork in 
Nature, and inlets to a sluggish soul, must be the eyes that fail 
to see, or grow weary resting on the beauties of the hills and the 
valleys of this chosen garden spot of the owner of an Empire, 
his Eden, wherein he desired to perpetuate his memory. 

Our car is standing on a siding at the southeast corner of 
the square, where we will loiter for an hour and go through the 
dream of glimmering events that were. In the circular spot of 
green stands Northampton County's tribute to its young men, 
who here vowed allegiance to their country and marched toward 
the noon-day sun, back in the 6o's. Their history is only told in 
a general way by the universal historian ; their achievements will 
soon be forgotten, as they are now passing, in surprising numbers, 
to the Great Beyond and no one to record their individual experi- 
ences, trials and tribulations of a very eventful period, which the 
future historian will chronicle in one small chapter. This hand- 
some memorial occupies the spot on which, for over a hundred 
years, stood the old Northampton County Court House. Here, 
to this ancient edifice, the voting population residing as far north 
as Bloomsburg, Berwick, Mauch Chunk, Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, 
Honesdale, Pittston, Towanda and the region still farther north, 
came to deposit their ballot. 

Here, on the threshold of this county shrine was promul- 
gated, in July, 1776, the Declaration of Independence, probably 
the first place outside of Philadelphia where public approval was 
given to that famous transaction, and, probably, where was first 
displayed a flag, combining the stars and the stripes as an emblem 



of a new nation. There appeared on July 20th, 1776, in the New 
England Journal the following item : 

"Easton, Northampton County, July 8th. 

This day, the Declaration of Independence was received 
here and proclaimed in the following order : The Colonel and all 
other Field Officers of the First Battalion repaired to the Court 
House, the light Infantry Company marching there with drums 
beating, fifes playing and the standard (the device for which is 
the thirteen united Colonies) which was ordered to be displayed 
and after that the Declaration was read aloud to a great number 
of spectators, who gave their hearty assent with three loud huzzas 
and cried out, 'MAY GOD LONG PRESERVE AND UNITE 
THE FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES OF AMER- 
ICA.' " 

The flag, here mentioned, is supposed to be the one which is 
now in the possession of the Easton Public Library, where it was 
deposited in 1821 by the remnant of a military company that 
used it during the War of 1812. 

The following extracts were taken from the Minute Book of 
the Library Association : 

August I, 18 1 8. 
"A committee consisting of I. Horn and Samuel Moore 
waited on the Board at this Meeting with a copy of certain reso- 
lutions and requesting that a certain flag, to which these resolu- 
tions related, might be deposited for safe-keeping in the Library 
Hall. (For further particulars see the newspapers of that date.) 
The Board agreed that the said flag might be so deposited, but it 
never was deposited.^ 

Stewart Kennedy, Librarian. 

W. H. SiTGREAVES, Secretary." 

July 24th, 1 82 1. 

"The Librarian reports that the Flag mentioned in the pro- 
ceedings of the Board Aug. ist, 1818 had been delivered to him 
a few days since, and deposited in the Hall. 

C. Innes, Secretary. 
James Linton, Librarian." 

The flag was presented to a company of emergency men by 
Miss Beidleman on September 14, 1814. This company went to 
the front four days after being called and at the time the famous 

'The flag: at this time was beinjj used by a company in the State Militia service and the 
Veterans who carried it to the front, were desirous of regaining their possession. 

[6] 




A HISTORIC FLAG 




VIEW OF NORTHAMPTON STREET 
( Taken from Public Square ) 



song of the "Star Spangled Banner" was made known and sung 
by everybody. It is reasonable to suppose, without further evi- 
dence, that while the flag was presented on this particular occa- 
sion, it was not made for the purpose, but had its origin sometime 
during the period of the 6 and 8 pointed stars, which was some 
years prior to the time of the 5 pointed star and was also the 
period of the 13's both in the stars and the stripes. If the ladies 
had found it necessary to make a flag for the purpose of presenta- 
tion, beyond a doubt, it would have been one more in keeping 
with the time, which was, and had been for over 20 years, the 
period of 15 stripes and 15 stars, and quite likely would have 
made one for the other company, which was formed at the same 
time. 

Long years have passed and many are the changes that fol- 
lowed each other since this spot was shorn of its pristine foliage. 
The decades of the three half centuries that have elapsed, have 
been crowded with numerous and great events, but the many 
thousands, who pass to and fro over this circular spot of green, 
the central pivot that influenced territory equal to an empire, 
have ceased to admire the spectacle here enacted, from time to 
time, by those of the nation makers who selected the regions 
'round about for their activities, their joys and sorrows. Little 
does their posterity know or care that here was sounded the 
death-knell of the French and Indian War, and that here was 
lost forever the white man's influence over the red race of 
America. 

Here, under the lofty oaks, was held the famous Indian 
Treaty of 1757, which created the white man's message that was 
to be communicated to the Indian nations beyond the Ohio River. 
Its messenger. Christian Frederick Post, who started on this long, 
perilous journey through 400 miles of wilderness and hostile 
Indians, never received the credit due him for this remarkable 
undertaking. His life imperilled every minute, day and night, a 
big reward having been offered by the commander of the French 
forces at Niagara, who paroled over 300 soldiers with instruc- 
tions to proceed into the wilderness to intercept Post and prevent 
him from reaching his destination. After two months of crawl- 
ing through trackless forests, evading unseen enemies, subsisting 
on uncooked food and braving the elements with no fire to cheer 
his loneliness or prepare his meals, Post finally reached his desti- 
nation unharmed and, with rare diplomacy, succeeded in prevent- 
ing an alliance between the French forces and the Indians of the 
Middle West, and making a record of a journey that has no 
parallel in the world's history. 

Here it was that Robert Levers, that fearless patriot and 
Northampton County's greatest citizen, announced his appoint- 

[ 7 ] 



ment as dictator of local government during the darkest period 
of the Revolution, when Washington's army was retreating across 
New Jersey and conservative citizens everywhere wavering, 
falling by the wayside ; Massachusetts declining to contribute its 
portion to any further support of the army; its citizens seeking 
shelter within the folds of the British Ensign; New Jersey 
harassing Washington and his army; Tories everywhere in high 
glee; the demoralization of old Northampton County's men of 
affairs, Lewis Gordon, James Allen, Andrew Allen and former 
Governor James Hamilton, held in bondage and protection within 
the closed doors of this ancient seat of justice; Robert Trail 
refusing to take the oath of office as magistrate, to which he was 
just elected ; the number of reliable men, who could be depended 
upon to transact the local business, reduced to a few. Quick 
action on the part of the Supreme Executive Council at Philadel- 
phia became necessary to support the tottering form of the new 
federal Government. The following Minutes at one of their 
meetings fully illustrates the prevailing sentiment of that stren- 
uous period. 

"The Petition of upwards of twenty of the Freeholders of 
the Town and Township of Easton and of Forks Township in 
the County of Northampton, setting forth that Rob't Trail and 
Henry Fullert, Esq'rs., had declined, and still continue to decline 
to take the oaths necessary to qualify them to act in the office of 
Magistrate, and that great inconveniences unavoidably and daily 
arise from there being no Magistrate resident in the said Town 
of Easton, and also setting forth that it is necessary that one or 
more Magistrates should be seated in the said Town of Easton, 
.and etc., etc., was read and the same being considered thereupon. 

On motion agreed, that Rob't Levers and Abraham Berlin 
"be appointed and commissioned as Justices of the Peace for the 
said County of Northampton, and that they be commissioned 
accordingly in the room of the said Rob't Trail and Henry Ful- 
lert." Later when conditions were more favorable for the cause 
of liberty. Trail became reinstated but Fullert paid the penalty. 
There was no mistaking the stability of that old reliable execu- 
tive, Robert Levers, and when Toryism was rampant among the 
Scotch-Irish during the latter part of the War; Samuel Rhea, 
one of their number, declining to further serve as County Lieu- 
tenant; the conditions throughout the county being in a state of 
chaos ; people doubting their neighbor's loyalty ; a general lack 
of confidence in everything and everybody; the Supreme Execu- 
tive Council appointed Robert Levers County Lieutenant, who 
soon created a spirit more favorable to patriotism. The Scotch- 
Irish halt in their mad rush. This new Lieutenant, like the St. 

[8 ] 



Patrick of old, evidently believed in the banishment of the 
•obnoxious. 

Soon after the exodus of the Scotch-Irish fjpm Northamp- 
ton County began, they taking with them their history of the 
^ood, if they had any, leaving behind but little to their credit, 
and_ only those of their number who had become inoculated or 
affiliated with the hated German. And the good generally meted 
out to them should be credited to those who had remained and 
assumed German thrift, and German characteristics. 

Roobert Levers was of English descent, living in Chester 
County. We first find him in the offce of Richard Peters, who 
was the Secretary of the Penns. Later he became the partner 
of Peters in some land deals in Northampton County, above the 
Blue Mountains, making his home at what is now Saylorsburg. 
where he also kept a hotel and a store. Their holdings in these 
mountain regions proved to be of a rather poor quality, so he 
disposed of all his landed interests to his partner and shortly 
before the Revolution became an official of the county. He then 
changed his location to Easton, where he occupied a house be- 
longing to Conrad Ihrie, Sr. On the second floor was his bed- 
room and here he kept the papers and documents of the State 
and also of the city of Philadelphia, and those belonging to the 
new nation, entrusted to him by Congress when they were com- 
pelled to evacuate Philadelphia, on the approach of the British 
army. 

These papers were packed in boxes and barrels and were 
supposed to be ready for immediate transportation to John Van 
Campen above the mountains, if found necessary. Probably, 
this trusted custodian realizing that the safety of the local docu- 
ments and papers of the county would be jeopardized in case of 
Easton becoming a battle center (this locality was considered a 
strategic point during that war), consigned them, together with 
those of the Government for a hasty transit. Later, when Phila- 
delphia was again free of the enemy, Levers requested the State 
Committee of Safety to make disposition of them, as he was 
compelled to move and could not find a vacant house in the 
Town, for the house he then lived in v/as to be occupied by the 
owner's son-in-law, John Arndt, who had recently married 
Conrad Ihrie's daughter. It may be probable that these books 
and papers of the county never reached Levers, as Louis Gordon, 
m whose possession they were, stubbornly resisted all overtures 
on the part of his successors to procure them, and Gordon him- 
self may have sent them to Philadelphia, to avoid the necessity 
of turning them over to Levers. The following letter from 
Levers, who at this time had his abode temporarily in Lancaster, 
IS of sufficient interest to be here quoted. 

[ 9 ] 



Lancaster, October 8th, 1777. 
"Sir, 

After I had received my commission from the Supreme 
Executive Council to hold the office of Prothonotary and Clerk 
of the Orphan's Court of Northampton County, I waited on Mr. 
Gordon at Easton, produced the commissions and requested the 
papers and records belonging to the offices ; many of which he 
has delivered, but there are many yet in his possession. 

When I had repeatedly waited on Mr. Gordon myself, in 
person, and requested Mr. Trail to do the same, at his instance 
without whom he said he could not find the papers, I found he 
declined delivering up the remainder of the papers thro' one 
evasion or other ; I therefore wrote a letter to Mr. Gordon setting 
forth therein the Papers still in his possession that I knew of, 
besides others which possibly might be, which I could not directly 
discover, as well belonging to the offices of the Prothonotary 
and Orphan's Court as the cessions, the Justices having nomi- 
nated me clerk of the Cessions, and in the letter acquainted him 
with the fact that after Mr. Trail and myself frequently waiting 
on him I was sorry to feel myself under the disagreeable neces- 
sity of making a demand of the papers in writing. This letter 
was delivered by the Gaoler, Mr. Ehler, who said Mr. Gordon's 
answer was, he did not know what the man meant, he had no 
papers in his possession, the contrary of which Mr. Trail knew 
well. 

At last September Court I applied to the Justices, who sent 
for Mr. Gordon, but I do not understand anything was deter- 
mined and the Papers still remain with him. 

Having examined the Papers in my possession, I find that 
there remains with Mr. Gordon, viz., 

COMMON PLEAS. 

Writs for March and June 1776. 

AJl the reports of Auditors. 

A day-book in which Writs and executions and all process 
issuing out of the office are indiscriminately entered as applied 
daily, which doubtless ought to be lodged in the office to settle 
any dispute that might arise on ye Priority of date of an execu- 
tion issued, and which Mr. Traill tells me Mr. Gordon says has 
no business with. 

orphans' court. 

Sundry Papers. Records from 1755 to 1758. 

SESSIONS. 

Papers from 1752 to 1758. Sessions March 1776. Several 
other Papers and Records which I cannot enumerate, having 
mislaid the Copy of my letter to Mr. Gordon at the time I left 
Easton. 

[ 10 ] 




Michael Hunt's Hotel 
His General Store 



Couaty Offices Pennsylvania Bank 




i Ihrie's Hotel 



Court House 



Market House 



All the indictments and bills found by the Grand Jury^ 
which Mr. Gordon told me, in the presence of the Justices, as 
Clerk of the Sessions, I had nothing to do with. That they were 
lodge with him by the King's Attorney. I apprehend Indict- 
ments of Grand Jury to be papers of records and ought to be 
lodged with the Court or other proper officer of the Court. Art 
old Indictment may be called for seven years hence. 

I beg your Excellency in Council be pleased to take this 
matter into consideration and give such directions therein as 
shall be judged expedient. 

When the Court nominated me Clerk of the Sessions, the 
mode of recommending two or more persons to your Excellency 
in Council that one of them might be approved by Council was 
not adverted to, and thro' the critical situation of affairs it was 
unluckily omitted at the last Court. 

I am. 

May it please your Excellency,. 
Your Excellency's 
Most obedient 
Humble Servant 

Robert Levers." 

The State papers finally reached Philadelphia and probably 
those belonging to the County were included, as all documents- 
and books pertaining to Northampton County prior to 1777 are 
now, and have been for many years, in the possession of the 
Historical Society of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and there 
is nothing on record to show how or when they became deposited 
there. However they are in excellent keeping, indexed and easy 
of access, to anyone interested in the early history of the fourteen 
counties which were formed from Northampton and it is grati- 
fying to know that they will be preserved forever. It is to be 
regretted that the documents during the latter part of the War 
and afterwards, find a resting place in the garret of the present 
Court House, where access to them is had only by the rats, that 
use them for nests, in which to rear their young. Yet, here they 
must remain till the State Legislature sees fit to create an act 
making other disposition of them. Probablythe future will pro- 
duce a non-partisan Board of County Commissioners in the sev- 
eral Eastern Counties of Pennsylvania, who will interest them- 
selves in the archives of these counties and place them in a room, 
where they may be in charge of an archivist and where they will 
be easy of access. A scheme of this kind would certainly be a 
master stroke of progressiveness and would be appreciated by 
many students of American history. 

[ II ] 



But time is too precious to deviate and punctuality is one 
of the cardinal virtues of the Transit Company so v/e will now 
start on our journey vip Northampton Street, and on our return, 
recount some other events that transpired at this, our ancient 
shrine of patriotic sentiment. Our car now stops at Bank Street 
and v/e notice on both sides modern business establishments 
which have finally supplanted the numerous smaller affairs that 
from, time to time had replaced those of lesser magnitude 
through the decades back to the period of the log-cabin days. The 
first buildings erected, on both south corners of Bank Street, 
were hotels. The one occupying the site of the present Bank 
building, was a log structure, the other was brick. Now, as the 
town grew, the owners of the log house found it to greater ad- 
vantage to build a new structure at the other end of the lot, 
facing the square, and the yard extended southward to Pine 
Street. This was the hotel of Frederick Nungesser and later his 
son George became its owner. After the Revolutionary War 
the property was sold to Adam Yohe, Jr., who conducted the 
hotel for a number of years but it was finally converted to other 
uses. 

The yard was finally turned into a market-house; then a 
coal-yard under the same roof ; then changed to an opera house 
still under the same roof ; and this same old roof is there today 
and shelters the billiard hall and dining room. 

But we are getting too far away from our car which is mov- 
ing and we are now at Opera House Court. On the corner of 
this alley, on the site where the present Opera House stands, was 
erected the first pretentious house in the town. It was the resi- 
dence of Jacob Miner. Jacob, at a very early period, became 
infatuated with the grandeur of Wyoming Valley, disposed of his 
Easton residence, and finally it became the home of Louis 
Gordon.^ 

Directly opposite Gordon's house, on the present site of the 
Fraley building, stood a commodious stone house. It was built 
by Nicholas Scull in 1754 and was used by him as a hotel for a 
number of years. During the Indian Treaty of 1758 it was the 
headquarters of the King of the Six Nations and his chief men. 
This became the home of George Taylor in 1763 and was the 
only property that he owned in Easton. He later sold it to his 
son James, who married the daughter of Louis Gordon. During 



^Gordon was the first Attorney in the new county, prior to which, he was employed as a 
clerk in theofRceof Rev. Richard Peters. Peters was Secretary of the Govenor's Couucil 
in Philadelphia and was instrumental in having William Parsons appointed Prothonotary 
of the new county in 1752, and then sent Louis Gordon as a check on Parsons. Louis 
Gordon was an upright, conscientious man and was popular with all his neighbors except 
Parsons. Considerable friction existed between these two. Gordon, becoming- disgusted, 
moved to Burlington, New Jersey where he opened an office as Attorney-at-Law. Here he 
remained until after the death of William Parsons, when he returned to Easton and pur- 
chased the residence of Jacob Miner. 

[ 12 ] 




NORTHAMPTON ST. AT THE CLOSE OF THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR 

12 3 4 5 6 7 

L Adam Yohe's Hotel; 2, Paul Miller's House; 3, Nicholas Scull's Hotel 1754, Geo. Taylor's House 
1763; 4. Frederick Nungesser's Hotel; 5, John Rinker's Hotel 1754; 6, Louis Gordon's Home; 7, 

Adam Yohe's second Hotel. 




RESIDENCE OF COL. HOOPER, (Photo l')ll) 



the Revolutionary War it was used by John Young as a gun- 
shop.^ 

The greater portion of this building was -utilized as a part 
of the present structure and was finally demolished in 1908 to 
permit the extension of the present store room. 

During the Indian treaties, the center of activity was at the 
corner of Fourth and Northampton streets. On the site of the 
present Central hotel was erected the first 'hotel stand of the 
town. It was built by Adam Yohe on ground leased from Paul 
Miller, who lived next door to the hotel and conducted a stock- 
ing weaving establishment. Miller was an intirnate friend of 
William Parsons, with whom he made numerous business deals. 
During the Indian Treaty the sleeping apartments of this house 
were used by Israel Pemberton and a few others of the Quaker 
Society of Philadelphia, who were present at the treaty to see 
that the Indians received justice. The building was of flimsy 
construction as was also the hotel next door and Pemberton and 
his associates could readily perceive the intrigues that were tak- 
ing place in the hotel between Secretary Richard Peters and 
George Crogan, deputy Indian Agent, and some others, mem- 
bers of the Governor's Council, in their unsuccessful endeavors 
to braek down the Indian's defence. Although they labored dili- 
gently for four days, plying liquor to these untutored sons of the 
forest, they were unsuccessful in changing the Indian's attitude. 
The second floor of this hotel was used as a sort of headquarters, 
for holding private councils with the Indians during the Treaties. 
George Croghan's headquarters was at Jasper Scull's hotel, which 
stood on the southwest corner of Fourth Street, now the site of 
the Northampton County Bank. The building was demolished 
in 1908 to make room for the present bank structure. The 
Governor and a few of his men occupied rooms in William Par- 
sons' house, on the northwest corner, the site of the present Pomp 
buiding during the Treaty of 1756.* 

^George Taylor, whether born in America or in Europe has not yet been determined, 
however he was reared on his father's farm, in what is now the lower part of Catasauqua. 
liarly m hte he had become identified with the Durham Furnace and later became the 
if-^^f^/^ ■u?^''* owner of the concern. This brought him in contact with men of affairs in 
Fiiiiadelphia, many of whom were members of the Durham Company. He still retained 
his business after making his residence in Easton, where through his influential connect- 
ions he became a man of affairs. His reputation was centered in the fact that he was a 
signer of the Declaration of Indenendence. 

tu f"^?? ^^^Jf ^' ®°"^^ yesTs ago, was fortunate enough to receive a verification of a tradition 
that it is well here to record, the informant being a very old lady, who received the infor- 
mation from a witness, Mrs. Michael Opp, who, at the time was a young woman employed 
^%r-, -^o*^^^ ?f Adam Yohe, during the Indian Treaty. The story runs, that while the 
otftcials were intriguing with the Indians at the Hotel, two intoxicated Indians, for some 
reasons unknown, became incensed at their squaws, who were in the kitchen, assisting 
the landlord s wife and one of the cooks. These squv^s became frightened and ran from 
the house, lustily screaming, in fear of their lives, pursued by their infuriated husbands, 
who overtook them at the Cedar lot, which was in the vicinity of Church and West Streets, 
on the slope of Mount Jefferson a short distance from the hotel. Here, they were cruelly 
murdered, where after nightfall they were bnried by some of the white neighbors in the 
burial grounds nereby. 

[ 13 ] 



Our car is now standing at the corner of 4th and North- 
■ampton streets, where we will tarry for a while and look back 
through a period of time to the beginning of civilization at the 
Porks of the Delaware. In the year 1736, Benjamin Eastburn, 
surveyor general, accompanied by Thomas Penn, selected the 
tract of land at the confluence of the two rivers and surveyed it 
for Thomas Penn's private use and which he called the "thousand 
acre tract." On the extreme southeast corner, bordering on the 




Draft of The Thousand Acre Tract 



two rivers, was where he contemplated, later, building a town, 
after his own ideals. He had no definite time as to when this 
town was to be built, evidently contenting himself with forming 
platis. Between the years 1736 and 1750, numerous town plots 



14 



were made, and there are in existence today, six of these draw- 
ings. One, which is evidently the first, appears in the handwrit- 
ing of Eastburn, the others are by Nicholas Scull, who was the 
surveyor general, when the new county was formed in 1752. At 
the time Nicholas Scull was making the surveys of the town, 
Thomas Penn was living in England, where he became married 
to the daughter of Lord Pomfret, having forsaken his common- 
law wife before leaving America. About 1751, he writes to his 
commissioners in Philadelphia, to lay out the town according to 
his plans, giving the names of the streets and the town itself, 
complimentary to Lord Pomfret. About this time a new county 
was being agitated which was finally organized in 1752. This 
was called Northampton in accordance with Penn's request. The 
county was surveyed by Chapman and the town by Scull. Scull 
writes as follows on the subject: 

"Sir: In pursuance of the Honorable the Proprietaries di- 
rection I have been at the forks of the Delaware with Dr. Thomas 
Greame and in concert with him have carefully viewed the 
ground proposed for a Town and have laid out the same agree- 
able to a plan herewith sent you, for their perusal, by which they 
will see that the place is bounded on the East by the Delaware 
River, on the South by the West Branch, on the North by 
Tatamy's Creek and a part of the West side of high mountains, 
so that the plan cannot be enlarged, but on the West side and 
there only on two Streets, viz't the Streets A and B, from whence 
it may be extended more than a mile on very good grounds. 

The sides of the Squares are 480 ft. and the lots except a 
few, are 60 by 320 feet, the Square for Public use is 220 by 220 
feet, and tho' not placed in the center, we are of opinion that it 
is preferable to any other part of the Town as it is a very dry, 
level spot with a descent every way from it, and from whence 
there is a beautiful prospect of the River Delaware and the 
Jersey Shore. 

We endeavoured to lay the Front Street nearer to the River 
at the Sorth end than it is laid down in the plan. But as that 
would have thrown the Street C, D, over Tatamy's Creek, we 
judged it best to lay it out as in the Draught, whereby there is 
ground left between the Front Street and the River, which we 
conceive will not be lost if ever the Town comes to be consider- 
able, as it will not be granted with the lots and must in time be 
wanted for Stores, Wharfs, etc. 

The Front Street is about 25 feet in perpendicular height 
above the surface of the River, both Rivers must be more than 
12 ft. deep for 200 feet each way from the point H, the stream 
not at all rapid, the meeting of the Rivers forming an Eddy. 

[ 15 ] 



The situation of the place is very pleasant and in my opinioni 
has much the advantage of any other place in the Forks or near 
it, especially on account of the Trade. 

NicHo Scull." 

Early in 1752, Nicholas Scull, having made survey of the 
tovv^n plots satisfactory to Thomas Penn, writes to William Par- 
sons, who was then living in Lancaster County, that the Com- 
missioners had not yet appointed a man as Prothonotary for the 
new county, but Richard Peters was using his influence with 
them to have him (Parsons) appointed, and which they finally 
did. 

William Parsons was a shoemaker by trade, living in Phila- 
delphia with a family of wife, one son and five daughters. Hi& 
oldest daughter was married to James Norrell not long after the 
time of the arrival at Philadelphia of the Moravian brethren, and 
when they began a series of revival meetings, this daughter and 
her mother attended, to which Parsons remonstrated, he being 
an Atheist and, consequently, a member of Frenklin's Junta. 
However they paid no attention to his remonstrance and con- 
tinued to attend the meetings and finally both joined the congre- 
gation. On returning home after this important ceremony, the 
mother expressed some fear of the consequences after her ar- 
rival there, whereupon the daughter concluded to accompany her. 
But the father had been advised beforehand of the fact that his 
wife and daughter became Moravians and was prepared for 
them. After they entered, he closed and locked the door and 
then taking the strap used at his shoemaker's bench he whipped 
both of them severely; then opened the door, demanded them to 
leave and never return, to which they both religiously adhered. 
They never entered his door again until the day he was buried 
at Easton, more than nine years later. The only one of the 
family who ever visited him, either at his home in Lancaster 
County or Easton, was his daughter Grace. Parson, in one of 
his letters, spoke of removing his fam^ily to Easton. This family 
consisted of his niece, Rebecca Wooley, a servant, Elizabeth 
Kritsman, and his nephew, Stephen Wooley. This 3^oung man 
was a doctor and Parsons intended that he should become estab- 
lished in the new town, but Stephen shared his uncle's unpopu- 
larity and divided his time between Easton and Philadelphia. 

At the breaking out of the Indian War in 1756, Parsons 
was appointed major. Stephen wrote a letter congratulating 
him on his promotion and added "now uncle is the time we 
should make something out of this." Whereupon, he returned 
to Easton and remained with Parsons until his death and for a 
short time after, causing the executor no end of trouble. 

[ 16 ] 



During the month of April, 1757, Parsons moved into his 
new house. About this time his health was failing very rapidly 
and, finding the change from a frame house to a stone house 
not very beneficial, he made a trip to the sea shore and returned 
late in the autumn and died the following 21st of December, 
occupying his new 'house less than three months. A few days 
prior to his death, he made a will which was witnessed by Jost 
Vollert, the school teacher, David Henderson, a Philadelphia 
lawyer, and Peter Kachline, the chief burgess of the town. At 
the same time he wrote a very pathetic letter to his wife asking 
her to come to him, as he was dying. Henderson was requested 
to deliver the letter on his return to Philadelphia, but Parsons 
died about the time Henderson arrived there. 

The will named three executors, two of av^o"^ refused to 
serve. This very interesting document showed his regard for 
Easton and its citizens by not mentioning it or even any one- 
connected with it, but gave five hundred pounds to a school in 
Philadelphia, which afterward became the University of Penn- 
sylvania. It was never his intention to be buried at Easton.. 
After the will was signed and witnessed, he recalled the witnesses 
and mentioned that he concluded to be buried at Easton and 
that they should tell his executors to build a fence around the 
graveyard. 

The inscription on Parson's grave-stone was a sentiment 
expressed by an early Moravian historical writer, which wa» 
brought to light about the year 1888 through a research of the 
archives of the Moravian Church by Rev. Dr. Uzal. W. Condit, a 
local historian, whose enthusiasm caused him to have this senti- 
ment inscribed on the stone over Parson's grave. This was done 
some time during the year 1889 and Dr. Traill Green, Captain 
Jacob Hay and William J. Heller were solicited to each con- 
tribute an equal part of the expense. 

LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF WILLIAM PARSONS. 

In the name of God, Amen. I, William Parsons of Easton, 
in the County of Northampton, Gent, being very weak of body 
but of sound mind and memory, blessed be God for the same 
and all other his mercies and favors. Do think fit to make this 
my last will and testament in manner following: That is to say. 
First it is my mind and will that all my Debts be fully paid by 
my Executors hereafter named and I nominate and appoint my 
very good friends, William Coleman and Ivan Morgan of the 
city of Philadelphia and Timothy Horsfield of Bethlehem, to be 
the Executors of this my last will and Testament and the better 
to enable my said Executors to pay my debts and Legacies, I do 
hereby fully impower them — my said Executors, the survivors 
and survivor of them and the Executors of the survivor of them 

[ 17 ] 



to grant bargain sell release and confirm all my Lots and Lands, 
Tenements and Hereditaments, wheresoever and whatsoever and 
all my Estate Right, Title and Interest of, in and to my Lots, 
Lands, Tenements and Hereditaments, whatsoever and where- 
soever in Fee simple to any Person or Persons whosoever their 
Heirs, Executors, and Assigns forever for such price and con- 
sideration as they can get for the same and I do hereby confirm 
the four several Bond for fifty pounds each lately entered into, 
to each of my sister Mary's Children and I do confirm the three 
several Bonds to my sister Sarah and her two Children for fifty 
pounds each and I desire my Executors to pay into the hands of 
my Son-in-Law James Norell in the sum of forty pounds with 
which he is to make up and decorate the graves & tombs of my 
late Dear Mother and three Children, viz. Robert, ,Suseanah and 
Hannah, and I give unto my said Son in Law my watch and I 
give and bequeath unto my Nephew Doctor Stephen Wolley 
the sum of one hundred pounds lawful money in consideration 
.of his great care of me and his great expence of time and mede- 
scine from time to time for these several years and I give to my 
Niece Rebeccah Wooley twenty pounds lavv^ful money in con- 
sideration of the great trouble she has had with me and my 
afifairs and I give to my servant girl, Elizabeth Kritsman, the 
sum of twenty pounds lawful money in consideration of the 
great care and attendance of me in my sickness an^ I desire my 
Executors to pay and deposit into the hands of some discreet 
person the sum of fifty pounds lawful money for them to pay 
unto my Niece Elizabeth Cummins in such manner and propor- 
tion as shall appear to them most useful for her and I give to 
my said Executors the sum of two hundred pounds for the 
Benefit of the poor Scholars of the Academy of Philadelphia and 
as for the and concerning all the rest and residue of my estate 
whatsoever and wheresoever I give the use of the same to my 
wife during her natural Life and after her decease my mind is 
that the same shall go to my three Children now living, their 
Heirs, Executors and Assigns forever respectfully and I revoke 
all other wills by me heretofore made and declare this only to 
be my last will and testament. 

In witness whereof I, the said William Parsons, have here- 
unto set my hand and seal, dated the Fifteenth Day of December 
in the Year of our Lord, One Thousand Seven Hundred and 
Fifty Seven. 

[ i8 ] 



Signed, Sealed and Published, and declared by the above 
William Parsons the Testator in the Presence of us, who at his 
Request have subscribed our names in his Presence. 

D. A. Henderson Wm. Parsons. (Seal.) 

jost vollert 

Peter Kachlein 

northampton county s. s. • 

Be it remembered that on the 21st day of Decernber in the 
year of our Lord, one thousand seven hundred and fifty seven, 
before me, William Plumsted Esquire, one of the Justices of the 
Peace for the said County, came David Henderson of the City 
of Philadelphia, Attorney at Law, and Yost Vollert of Easton, 
cordwainer, in their proper persons and being duly qualified the 
said David Henderson upon oath and the said Yost Vollert on 
his solemn affirmation according to Law, viz. say that William 
Parsons, late of Easton, deceased on the fifteenth day of this 
instant sent for the said David Henderson and Yost Vollert to 
be witnesses of the Executing his last will and Testament, the said 
William Parsons being then in his own house in his last sickness 
& having his senses and understanding perfect and when the said 
William Parsons took the paper, on which his will was wrote, 
into his hand he said: Gentlemen there is one thing I have for- 
got to mention in my will. That is, I desire to be buried in the 
grave yard at Easton. I did design to h,ave left ten pounds 
toward making a fence about it but I have forgot it. However 
Gentlemen, do you be witnesses that it is my desire and tell 
my Executors I desire them to lay out Ten pounds in fencing 
in the grave yard and further the said deponent and affirment 
say not. 

Sworn and affirmed the day and year first within written. 

Wm. Plumsted 

D. A. Henderson 
Yost Vollert 

Then in May 1752 Nicholas Scull proceeds to the Forks 
to lay out the streets, accompanied by Parsons who was to 
assume the business end of the enterprise. Parsons employed 
some of the residents of Williams Township, on the south side 
of the Lehigh, to cut open the streets and to build his house. 
This house was made of sawed lumber and erected on the north- 
west corner of 4th and Northampton streets, on the site of the 
present Pomp building and was removed to the rear at the time 
the Pomp building was erected, where it stood until about the 
year 1874 and was then demolished to make room for the brick 

[ 19 ] 



building now occupied by Levi Seiple & Sons, the liquor mer- 
chants on 4th street. Beyond a doubt this was the first house 
erected on the "thousand acre tract," as it is safe to presume that 
no one would have been so foolhardy as to locate a home on the 
private grounds of a man like Thomas Penn. This house had 
two entrances, one on each street, and it was at the one facing 
4th Street that the Governor was sitting in the afternoon shade 
of the Sunday, previous to the Indian Treaty of 1756. Teedyus- 
cung, just having arrived in the town, called on the Governor 
to talk business. The Governor informed him that the white 
man did not do business on Sunday and referred him to the 
following day, which took considerable explanation on the part 
of Conrad Weiser the next day to enlighten Teedyuscung, whose 
days were all alike, as to the why and wherefore of such conduct, 
before he became convinced that it was not an affront. 



cA^ -^/c 




Draft of the First Survey. Opposite Easton 

An anecdote of Benjamin Franklin when he was at the 
Indian Treaty at Easton in 1777-8. When the old Indians came 
in their file to speak to the Governor, he would ask their names ; 
then the Governor would ask Ben, as he familiarly called him 
what he must think of to remember them by. He was always 
answered promptly. At last, one Indian came whose name was 
Tocaredhogan, such a name! how shall it be remembered? The 



[ 20 ] 



answer was prompt: think of a wheelbarrow to carry a dead 
hog on. — JVatson's Annals Phila.. 

In due course of time, the town w^as plotted, Parson's house 
completed, Scull returned to Philadelphia, from whence he writes 
there must be no change from the original survey of the lots on 
the east side of the square, where he had difficulty in making it 
fit the original design of Penn, as is fully illustrated in his letter, 
which is here quoted. 

''Nicholas Scull to Wm. Parsons, 1752. 
Philad., Saturday, May 23d, 1752. 
"Dear Sir:— 

This morning, about 7 o'clock, Captain Shirley arrived from 
London, by Mr. Peters, receiv'd a Letter from the Proprietor, 
concerning the Town of Easton, an Extract of which he has 
sent you. I have sent you a plan, of wdiat I conceive to be the 
Proprietors intention concerning the Square ; you will see that 
the Lots on the East side of the Square, cannot be 120 feet, as 
his honour proposed, inasmuch, as the Lots on that side, are not 
more than 230 feet deep, as appears by a rough draft of the 
plan sent home, which I have sent you. I have laid them down 
no feet, as they really wall be, according to the proprietors 
Scheme; as to the other parts of his directions concerning the 
Lots, you will no doubt conform to what he proposes, as far as 
you find it practicable, for you will see, that after he has given 
directions about the Square, the rest of what he says, is little 
more than proposing what may be done, to wdiich I can say noth- 
ing, as not knowing how it will affect the new plan, of which I 
have no copy. 

It is a misfortune, that we did not know the Proprietor's 
pleasure sooner, but as that can't be now helpt, we must do as 
well as we can; however, make no doubt but you will clearly 
see the proprietors design by his Letter. It seems to me, that if 
his Instructions concerning the Lots fronting the Square, be 
complied with, it will be a thing indifferent, how the others ad- 
joining them are laid. And between Friends, I think, that the 
Square proposed by his Honour, is too small for Publick uses, 
when the Fifty Foot Street is left between that and the build- 
ings ; however, you will consider whether it will be best to depart 
a little from the Proprietary Scheme, when it is of manifest ad- 
vantage in regard to the Size of the Adjoining Lots to do so, or 
keep strictly to his directions. 

I Sincerely Sympathize with you in your present Situation, 
in regard to the People who will next Monday apply for Lots, 
when by reason of this new Scheme, it will not be in your 
powder to serve them, till you have found another plan ; how you 
will manage, is hard to say, but your known resolution and dis- 

[ 21 ] 



patch, gives me hopes, that you will conduct the affair to the 
satisfaction of all concerned, notwithstanding what he wrote to 
you Yesterday, that you will not meddle with the water Lots till 
further orders, I know nothing of the contents of the First 
Letter, Save the Extract that you have, and consequently, noth- 
ing of what is done about running the provincial Lines, nor have 
I any News to tell you. 
I am, dear Friend 

Yours Sincerely, 

NiCHO. Scull." 

This, consequently, prevented the sale of the ground between 
the square and ithe Delaware, upon the day set for the sale of 
lots. Parsons who was a genuine "dyed-in-the-wool" English- 
man, arbitrary and methodical, and equal to such an occasion 
insisted on purchasers making their selection above the square. 
He thus, on the very first day created an unfriendly feeling 
among some of the buyers who were in attendance. Among 
these were many retired farmers, who had relinquished their 
farms to their children with the intention of living retired in the 
new town. 

The following letter to Richard Peters, written on the Tues- 
day following that memorable Monday when the sale of lots took 
place, illustrates the transactions of that day. 

SALE OF LOTS, MONDAY, MAY 25, 1 752 

"It was about ii O'clock yesterday when your Instructions 
by Mr. Jones came to hand and I had just time to read them 
over when Mr. James Scull came with yours of the 23d. The 
Weather had been so unfavourable ever since you left Easton 
that it was not without Difficulty that the streets were got in 
tolerable order against the time appointed, and Mr. Jones staying 
so late that morning gave me some pain lest he would not come 
at all that Day, and a great number of People would be thereby 
disapopinted but upon his appearance their apprehensions were 
removed. But you will easily imagine that I was under great 
Difficulties when I read over the abstract of the Proprietary's 
letter & saw the Plan agreeable to it sent me by the Surveyor 
Gen'l especially as I saw it absolutely necessary to make some 
alterations in it. It was now about one of the Clock and a mul- 
titude of People waiting in expectation to have the Lots shown 
them, while I was contriving how to dismiss them without giving 
offence. How well I succeeded those that were lookers-on can 
but say. This I can assure you that I managed things to the 
best of my abilities. And about 30 had their names entered who 
all promised to build this Fall or at least to make large prepara- 
tions for building next Spring. There are 140 appliers in all 

[ 22 ] 



who also seem very much in earnest to build. The Persons most 
disappointed were such as had been most active in obtaining the 
County. The greatest number of the appliers yesterday were 
Germans some of them of my old acquaintance men in good cir- 
cumstances. As I propose to be in Philadelphia next Monday or 
Tuesday shall refer the next bill I shall have the satisfaction to 
relate it by word of mouth. I am. 

William Parsons." 

The unpopularity of Parsons retarded the growth of the 
town and the first winter finds him with only eleven families 
and numerous rival towns starting up in the regions roundabout. 
The nearest one of these was directly opposite the town, on the 
south side of the Lehigh, which gave Parsons more concern than 
any of the others. Parsons writes to Richard Peters, Secretary 
of the Proprietary Government, under date of December 3, 1752: 

"Upon removing my family to this place, my thoughts have 
been more engaged in considering the circumstances of this in- 
fant Town than ever, as well with regard to its neighborhood as 
the probability there is of being furnished with provisions from 
the inhabitants near about it ; and if there already is, or probably 
may in time be, a sufficient number of settlers to carry on any 
trade with the Town, for without these, it is not likely it would 
be improved to any great height, as well with regard to the Town 
itself ; that is to say, its situation as to health, trade and pleasant- 
ness. The site of the Town is very pleasant and agreeable; the 
banks of all the waters bounding it clear and high ; and if it was 
as large again as it is — being now about a hundred acres — it 
might be said to be a very beautiful place for a town. It is true 
that it is surrounded on every side by very high hills, which 
make it appear under some disadvantage at a distance, and might 
give some occasion for suspicion of its not being very healthful ; 
but during all the last summer, which was very dry, iand the fall, 
which was remarkably wet, I don't know that any one has been 
visited with the fever, or any other sickness, notwithstanding 
most people have been much exposed to the night air and the 
wet weather, from which I make no difficulty to conclude the 
place is, and will continue, very healthy. And in regard to the 
trade up the river, that would likewise be very advantageous to 
the town, as well as to the country in general, even in the single 
article of lumber, as there is plenty of almost all kinds of timber 
above the mountains, where there are many good conveniences 
for erecting saw mills and several are built already, from whence 
the town might be supplied with boards, shingles, etc. The West 
branch will also be of advantage to the town, as it is navigable 
several miles for small craft, and Tatamy's Creek being a good 
stream of water to erect mills upon, will also contribute tov/ards 

[ 23 ] 



the advancement of the Town ; the Jersey side being at present 
more settled than near he river, opposite the forks, than the 
Pennsylvania side and indeed the land is better watered and more 
convenient for settlement than is on this side, for several miles 
above Easton. We have been supplied as much, or more, from 
that side as from our own. But how Mr. Cox's Project of lay- 
ing out a town upon his Land adjoining Mr. Martin's Land, on 
the side of the River opposite Easton, may affect this town, is 
hard to say and time only can obviate, etc., etc." 




Green Tree Inn 

T i.-^i^^'^ ^^"^ ^^^^ referred to, was the south side of the 
Lehigh, reaching from the present Lehigh Valley Passenger Sta- 
tion up the river to about where the first street is, in South 
Easton, thence back over the hill to certain bounds. The Mr 
Martin's land was that section reaching from the Lehigh Valley 
Station to the Delaware River. 



[24] 




THE OLD COURT HOUSE 




LAPAV/INZO 

Last Aboriginal Owner of the Forks. From a Painting 
Made for Thomas Penn, 1737. 



We will now proceed on our journey up Northampton 
Street. One of the first roads leading from the new town — one 
that had been long agitated — was a continuation of the present 
Northampton Street, westward, taking in all the settlements as 
far as Reading. This was known as the King's Highivay from 
East Town to Reading's Town. 

On the right, a few doors west of P^ourth Street, about 
where now is the east end of the Field building, stood the home 
•of Doctor Frederick Rieger, the first physician in Easton. A 
few doors beyond this was the stone hotel of the Shouses', and 
directly across, the Franklin House of today, the pldest contin- 
•uous hotel in Easton was begun under the title of the Green Tree 
Inn by John Schook and east of this, on the site of the present 
Groetzinger building, was the hotel of Peter Kachlein and the 
Opps'. Between this point and Fifth Street there were a few 
residences, prior to the Revolutionary War. On the northwest 
corner of Fifth Street stands a stone house, the original building. 
During the Revolutionary War it was the home of Colonel 
Robert L. Hooper, Deputy Commissary General of the Board of 
War. In the rear, and on the site of the present Zions Lutheran 
church stood a large 'Stone building used by him as a warehouse 
and later it was used as a barracks for the militia. Immediately 
•over the way, reaching from Fifth to Sixth street, were the 
Colonial Burial Grounds. This plot of ground was selected by 
Thomas Penn as a cem.etery for the benefit of the citizens of the 
Easton Town and Township and the property was held jointly 
by the two German congregations of Easton, the Lutheran and 
Reformed. 

The first record of a burial in this cemetery was that of a 
famous Indian Chief of the Six Nations, who died at Nicholas 
Scull's Hotel, while in attendance at the Treaties in 1756. The 
death of this Indian King, occuring as it did at an in-opportune 
time, caused the Governor to make the funeral a state ceremon- 
ial, which was attended by the entire populace at the Forks. 

This old colonial burying grounds became, at a later day, 
-the joint property of the two German congregations — the Luth- 
eran and Reformed — where burials were made until the organi- 
zation of the present Easton Cemetery Company, after which 
little or no attention was given to it and it became a rendezvous 
for rattle-snakes and rabbits. Finally, when the present Easton 
Library was established, a fund was created by public subscrip- 
tion, which was used for the purpose of purchasing the interest 
of the Reformed denomination. The Lutherans still retained 
half ownership of this tract of ground, and removing the remains 
of those buried therein and grading the grounds preparatory to 
the construction of our present handsome library building. 

[ 25 ] 




^» B"»t*iJ^^'J »»-^»»«» 



This pre-resurrection left only the graves of WilHam Par- 
sons, and Elizabeth Morgan and her two daughters. These were. 
not disturbed. 

DER MOMMY MORGAN OF MORGAN'S HILL 

"Mammy Morgan, 
Played de organ 
Her daddy beat de Drum." 

The writer, years ago, overheard a street urchin repeat the 
above little stanza and was so much impressed with it that he 
desired more information about the person in whose honor Avas. 
named that part of the South mountain or Lechau Hill, imme- 
diately south of Easton and now known as Morgan's Hill. The. 
first inquiry was from the troubadour whose lips gave expres- 
sion to this street rhyme who met it with this quick response,, 
"Oh, she was a bad woman, a witch woman and de folkses here 
used to hang her up a tree." Very much amused at this, inquiry 
was sought of older heads. An old citizen of Easton advanced 
the information that she kept a store and hotel and, on one of 
his hunting trips, he stopped at her place to purchase a pound of 
shot. Being unable to find a pound weight, she substituted a. 
pint measure, saying, "a pound is a pint anyhow." Several other- 
persons gave similar adverse information. When asked if they 
had known her personally, they replied, "no but they had heard 
so and so." A number of yers later having heard the shot story 
told in a dozen or more places throughout the United States as. 
actual occurrence in their respective localities, it was deemed 
best to make research among those who knew Mrs. Morgan 
personally. One old lady advised the writer not to believe any- 
thing of the stories that reflected adversely on the character of 
Mrs. Morgan as she was a very refined and highly educated per- 
son. Later, evidence was found which corroborated her state- 
ment. One lady, enthuisastically said, "she was Mother to the 
whole township and would always call on a sick person any- 
where in the Township and her advise was always sought in any 
dispute between neighbors." Another said, "rich and poor re- 
ceived her ministrations during affliction and she became known- 
as die mommy among the Germans which, in her day, was a great 
distinction." She was a friend of education and as early as 1820,, 
she gave the lot and contributed toward building the Hope school- 
house, with the understanding that it was to be free to all chil- 
dren and to be maintained by subscdiption of any who felt dis- 
posed to give. 

Pretty Lizzie Bell was the daughter of Jacob and Ann Bell, 
residing on Front Street, Philadelphia, prior to the Revolutionary- 
War. Her parents were orthodox Quakers and consequently 



frowned upon a certain young grocer, Hugh Bay, son of Rev. 
Andrew Bay, a chaplain in the Provincial Army, who was get- 
ting very intimate with Elizabeth and who was not of their faith. 
They used mild methods to discourage this intimacy and, when 
a few years later, Hugh made his appearance dressed in the 
uniform of a noted artillery company in the Revolutionary ser- 
vice, he was refused admittance to the Bell domicile and Elizabeth 
was compelled to make closer application to her studies. All 
went seemingly well until the British Army was reported com- 
ing toward Philadelphia when its citizens prepared to repel the 
■enemy by gathering all ammunition, collecting old lead and con- 
verting it into bullets. Elizabeth, whether through born intui- 
tiveness or from close application to study, at that opportune 
time, developed character that was one of the remarkable fea- 
tures in after life. She removed the leaden weights from her 
father's clock and converted them into bullets for her soldier 
lover, Hugh Bay. This, not only caused a flurry in Quakerdom 
but so enraged her father that he forthwith transported her to 
Europe to finish her studies. After the lapse of four years, her 
father, thinking that she had outlived her infatuation, brought 
her home. Elizabeth, however, true to her first love, was mar- 
ried to Hugh Bay in Swede's Church, Philadelphia, August i6, 
1 78 1. This act so shocked the orthodox Quaker congregation 
that they immediately called a special meeting at which a reso- 
lution was passed expelling Elizabeth from the congregation for 
marrying a worldly man and a certificate to that effect was given 
her. What effect all this had upon her parents is unknown. Her 
father died a few years later and left the greater part of his 
wealth to Elizabeth and her mother. Hugh made a good husband 
and maintained a fine home on the fashionable street. After a 
marriage of three years, he, unfortunately died, leaving only one 
child, Anna. Elizabeth remained a widow six years, when on 
September 2, 1790, she became the wife of Dr. Abel Morgan, 
a prominent physician of Philadelphia and formerly a surgeon 
in the Revolutionary Army. Two months later, her mother died. 
With the exception of a birth of another daughter, nothing event- 
ful transpired until 1793 when the great epidemic broke out in 
Philadelphia when Dr. Morgan took precautionary measures 
and removed his family from Philadelphia to the Lehigh Hills 
leaving his home in charge of the colored servants. Dr. Morgan 
selected for his retreat, a hotel on the top of the hill overlooking 
the "Forks of the Delaware." This delightful locality was a 
favorite of Dr. Morgan's when he was a surgeon in the Revolu- 
tionary Army and encamped with his regiment at Colonel Proc- 
tor's headquarters, along the ravine to the south of what is now 
Kleinhans' greenhouses which was then along the main road to 

[ 28 ] 



Easton from the south. Dr. Morgan, after seeing his family 
comfortably settled, returned to Philadelphia to help stamp out 
the epidemic. Elizabeth, not receiving any communication from 
him for upwards of two months and quarantine being removed 
from Philadelphia, concluded to make a trip there. On her 
arrival at her Philadelphia home, she found that the servants had 
decamped, the house was ransacked from garret to cellar and 
everything of value confiscated. At a loss to know what became 
of her husband, she made inquiry of the health officers and found 
that her husband had contracted the malady and died within a 
few days after his arrival and was buried in the trench along- 
with the rest. This double affliction required considerable forti- 
tude to withstand. Finding herself the second time, a widow, 
she disposed of her fine home and all her interests in Philadel- 
phia and returned to the "Hills" with the purpose of living in 
quiet retirement with her two daughters. She never returned to 
Philadelphia but purchased the hotel property in which she had 
taken up her abode and lived there for upwards of fifty years. 

Mrs. Morgan made use of her excellent education; she 
possessed a fine library and her favorite pastime was reading 
law books, of which she had a complete set. These were kept 
on a bench in the public room where she would dispense law when 
occasion required. This room, in time, became the popular re- 
treat for those of her neighbors who could not settle their dif- 
ferences themselves. They would invariably refer their case to 
this improvised court. A request for her decision was never 
refused; both old and young respected her judgment and seldom 
was there an appeal to a higher tribunal. 

This condition of affairs brought forth a protest from the 
legal fraternity of Easton who endeavored, by various methods, 
to break up the practice. Reflections as to her character and the 
character of the place were made bringing her name into ridicule 
for the unthinking. All this unkindness toward the "widow"" 
Morgan only increased her popularity. Few of these gentry of 
the bar could boast of a better legal education than Elizabeth 
Morgan and none of a better university training; her last will 
and testament (written by herself), for scholarly composition 
and legal construction is the peer of any like instrument of any 
member of the legal fraternity of her day. Steeled to adversity, 
never showing resentment toward her traducers, living a good 
and true life, a kind and generous neighbor, ministering to the 
afflicted, adjusting neighborly disputes for many years, she died 
October i6, 1839, aged 80 years and was buried in the Reformed 
cemetery on Mount Jefferson (now the site of the new library). 
Her obsequies was attended by people from far and near, her 
funeral cortege being nearly two miles long reaching from the 

[ 29 ] 



cemetery gates to a point along the Philadelphia road beyond 
Laohenour Heights, South Side. 

This former unkempt plaza of the dead is now the site of 
the Easton Public Library, and is surrounded by a beautiful 
park. This park is utilized, to a great extent, as a summer gar- 
den on Sunday afternoons by the offspring of the new American 
citizens, that has supplanted the old of that section of the 
"thousand acre tract," between Sixth and Seventh streets, known 
-as Dutch Tovv^n, down into which our car is now flying along as 
if anxious to reach the other end of this ancient Teutonic settle- 
ment. 

Sixth street was the extreme western limit of the town as 
■surveyed by Nicholas Scull. To the west and the north all the 
land within the "thousand acre tract" was Easton Tov/nship and 
not surveyed until after the Revolutionary War, when Anthony 
Butler, attorney for the Penns', requested Palmer to divide it 
into five acre tracts, which he sold to various purchasers. (See 
■map of Easton Township.) 

Our car has now arrived at Fifteenth Street, the extreme 
western limit of the "thousand acre tract," and is moving slowly 
toward Seventeenth Street. Lpoking northward, down in the 
valley, is the beautiful nook, known for many years as Lehicton, 
pleasantly situated at one of the bends of the Bushkill creek 
and called by the people of Hickory Jackson's time, "Hogtown." 
Who is there that has never heard of Plogtown bridge? If 
any, he surely must be a stranger around these regions. W^ell ! 
the. bridge is gone, so are the hogs, that fed on the refuse of one 
of the numerous distilleries that dotted this charming stream at 
intervals of short half miles, during the whiskey period, prior to 
the advent of the Internal Revenue Tax on distilled spirits. This 
Valley of Stills has long ceased to be a still valley. The vast 
industrial establishments and the pretty stone bridge have trans 
formed the old into the new, forming a picture that is delightful 
to behold, and one that will long remain in memory. 

Looking to the westward, as far as the eye can see, we note 
the continuation of Northampton Street meandering through 
hill and dale, "The King's Highway to Reading." Passing the 
Fountain House, then the pond, reaching the present Bethlehem 
road at Butztown, thence again passing through the northern 
part of Bethlehem, where it crosses the- Monocacy Creek about 
four blocks from the Broad Street bridge, converging into the 
main thoroughfare at Rittersville. 

Immediately north of us, down in the hollow, nestles the 
plantation of Bernhard Walter. He selected this tract on the 
quit-rent plan of the Penns', about 1740, and seemingly forgot 
to make returns. This was not discovered until 1810, when 

[ 30 ] 



Anthony Butler was looking around for lost property belonging 
to the Penn estate. The heirs of Bernhard Walter, desiring to 
maintain possession, were compelled to make satisfactory set- 
tlement for the property.^ 

We will now proceed southward along Seventeenth Street, 
passing what was at one time the Fair Grounds, but which is 
now dotted with beautiful homes of modern construction. Turn- 
ing East on Butler Street, we are rapidly gHding along, in plain 
view of the Lehigh, thence down Walnut to Seventh Street. All 
the land laying eastward of Seventh Street, and southward of 
Ferry reaching as far as Fifth Street was the farm of Michael 
Opp. Its boundaries were changed somewhat, after the Palmer 
survey. The east end of this farm was an apple orchard and 
through the entire tract was a roadway known as Green Lane, 
which later received the name of Wolf Street in honor of Gov- 
ernor Wolf. 

We now return to Center Square, to this old shrine of His- 
toric Wealth, and before starting again, we will tarry for a time 
and note the transactions of the Lidian Treaties of 175^-57 ^^d 
58. The town was then but three years old, some of the Dela- 
ware and Shawnese Indians, at the closing of the year 1755? 
went on the war path, massacreing the settlers on both sides of 
the Blue Mountains, from the Hudson River to the Susque- 
hanna. A chain of forts and blockhouses was erected along the 
entire length of this frontier. 

The nearest forts and 'block-houses to Easton, and those 
that were its immediate protectors, were those of the Moravian 
Economy. They were at Bethlehem, Christian Spring, Gnaden- 
thall, Nazareth, Friedensthall and the Rose Inn. These, in Jan- 
uary 1756, accommodated five hundred and fifty-six refugees 
from the settlements northward. Then back of these was Desh- 
ler's Fort near Egypt; Brown's Fort in the Irish settlement; one 
at Slatington; another near Point Phillips. East of these was 
Dietz's block-house near the Wind Gap; Martin's Fort, the old 
stone mill at Martin's Creek. The Jersey side was protected by 
a line of forts, the first being at Belvidere, twelve miles above 
Easton. This was called Fort Reading. The second was at 
Colonel Van Campens, eighteen miles further north. Six miles 
above this wast Fort Walpack in the Walpack bend. Above this, 
and six miles further up the river, was the largest fort, which 
was known as the headquarters. Next was Fort Nominick, eight 



^This is now the place that Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Hackett, a few years ago, donated 
to the city for a park but which, at the time, was not accepted by the City Council, owing: 
to the Committee entrusted with details, having attached thereto, a consideration of annual 
expenditures, without money to comply therewith. However, as the gift was made to the 
city and not to its representatives, it will in due course of time, become what its donors 
had intended it should be. 

[ 31 ] 



miles further, then Fort Shipeconk, only four miles further. 
And eight miles beyond this was Coles Fort. 

All these were along the Delaware River and one inland 
called Fort Gardner. 

Then on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware, north of 
the Blue Mountain, there was Fort Hyndshaw, being the first on 
the river bank, near where the Bushkill enters the Delaware. 
Then Depieu's Fort at Shawnee, above the Water Gap ; then 
Fort Hamilton at Stroudsburg; then Fort Norris near Broad- 
headsville and Fort Allen at Weissport on the Lehigh. Thence 
at certain distances apart there was a continuation of these forts 
r^ching to the Susquehanna. 

No apparent cause was assigned for this outbreak, and early 
in the Spring of the year 1756, Governor Morris sent messengers 
to the Northern Indians requesting a conference and calling for 
a cessation of hostilities for thirty days. Finally arrangements 
were made for holding a treaty here in the summer of 1756, 
which caused another to be held in October of the same year, one 
in 1757, another in 1758 and still another in 1761. Then in 1762 
was brought on the final settlement of all the questions that 
arose during the previous treaties. 

Here on this beautiful square, with its primitive oaks still 
in evidence, and under their cooling branches in the open air, 
durng the month of July, in the year 1756, was kindled the first 
Council fire in the Forks of the Delaware. Here Thomas 
Penn's emissaries unsuccessfully waged their master's political 
game and an untutored Son of the Forest compelled the White 
Man's Government to bend to his will. At a convenient place 
in the Square was erected what was termed a booth, but whether 
this was sufficiently extensive to cover the entire audience or 
whether its dimensions wer limited to the chief actors, has never 
been determined. The first two treaties in 1756 were prelimi- 
nary, the greatest was the one of 1757, when nearly twenty days 
were consumed in wrangling before the public ceremony began. 
The actors represented four factions. One was the Indian 
seeking justice, another was the Proprietary Government ad- 
vancing means to prevent it, the third was the Friendly Associa- 
tion demanding an honest proceeding and the fourth consisted 
of the Commissioners, appointed by the Assembly, who repre- 
sented the people at large. Their duty was to act in conjunction 
with the Governor in all business relating to the expenditure of 
public money. The Friendly Association were not here officially, 
but only by right of might. It was composed of Philadelphia 
Quakers, the wealthiest business men of the province, whose 
honesty of purpose dared not be resented by Penn's opera-bouffe 
officials. 

[ 32 ] 




OLD FAIR BUILDINGS 




NATHANIEL VERNON'S FERRY HOUSE 1752 (Photo 1911 



The ofificial party were represented by the Governor, four 
members of the Governor's Council and Richard Peters, the sec- 
retary of the Province. The Quaker party consisted of twenty^ 
people, under the leadership of Israel Pemberton. 

In the northwest corner of the Square was a depression,, 
which reached to the Bushkill Creek. Southeast from the- 
Square and extending all the way to the Lehigh, at a point be- 
tween Second Street and Vernon's Ferry House, was a ravine, 
on both sides of which were paths leading to Vernons. The one- 
on the south side made a slight detour, passing the rear end of 
the jail which stood on the corner of Third and Pine. The one* 
on the north side led down on what is now Northampton Street 
to Jacob Bachman's Hotel, which was the old stone building stilt 
standing at the northeast corner of Second and Northampton 
strets. From here, its course was direct to the Ferry, passing, 
close to the ravine, to avoid a depression in the land known as- 
Molasses Hollow. These paths were travelled quite extensively 
during the Conferences, and conversations not intended for other 
ears were overheard and made use of. At the Ferryhouse, built 
by Nathaniel Vernon in 1752, and still standing at the corner of 
Front and Ferry streets was erected a large building, a temporary 
structure where the Indians were served with their meals and 
rum. All other hotels were prohibited from dispensing liquor to 
the Indians by a heavy penalty. All available rooms in the 
houses of the town, besides the hotels, were utilized to their ut- 
most to accommodate the people who were in attendance. The 
Indians were encamped in the open air, at convenient places. In 
1756 the Governor found lodging .in Parson's house, corner o£ 
Fourth and Northampton. In 1757 and 1758 he lodged at Par- 
son's new house, corner of Fourth and Ferry. His Council and 
staff were quartered at Jasper Scull's Hotel, southwest corner 
of Fourth and Northampton. Isaac Norris and the Commis- 
sioners with some of the Friendly Association had their quarters 
at the hotel of Sheriff John Rinker, at the southwest corner of 
Bank and Northampton. This hotel property in the year 1767 
was sold to the Trustees of the four Reformed Congregations — 
Easton, Dryland, Plainfield and Greenwich — and converted into 
a parsonage. About ten years later, the Reformed sold it to 
George Vogel, when it again became a hotel, Vogel, like Rinker, 
became involved and the Sheriff sold the property. This last 
purchaser turned it into a residence, and the building was finally 
demolished in the year 19 10 and the site is now occupied by the 
east end of Laubach's Department Store. 

Teedyuscung the plenipotentiray of all the Indian Nations 
lodged with Vernon in 1757 and 1758. 

[ 33 ] 



STORY OF THE INDIAN TREATIES OF 1 756-5/ AND 58 

Unfortunately, after the cessation of hostilities against the 
Northern Indians for 30 days was proclaimed at Pennsylvania; 
it happened that war was proclaimed against the same Indians 
in New Jersey and a company of men sent against Wyoming, 
one of their towns. The news of this was brought to Bethlehem 
just as the Governor's messengers were setting out from thence; 
they, therefore, waited at Bethlehem till they heard that the 
party of men from the Jerseys having been at Wyoming and 
burned the town, which had been before deserted, were returned 
and then sent forward and met Teedyuscung at Diahoge, in the 
Province of New York. 

He was then holding a Treaty with the deputies of the Six 
Nations, who had now agreed to acknowledge the independency 
of the Delawares and the authority of Teedyuscung over Four 
Nations, viz. the Lenopi and the Wanami (two Delaware Na- 
tions) the Munseys and the Mohicons, but requested him and 
his people not to act of themselves, but advise with the Six 
Nations ; that by uniting their Councils and strength they might 
the better promote the general interest of the Indians. They 
told Teedyuscung the English and French v/ere fighting for their 
lands, and desired him to unite with them to defend them. At 
the same time they gave him a large Belt with several figures 
wrought in it. "In the middle was a Square, meaning the Lands 
of the Indians, and at the one end the figure of a Man indicating 
the English, and at the other end, another meaning the French : 
both these, they said, covet their Lands, but let us join together 
to defend our Lands against both, and you shall be the Partakers 
with us of our Lands." The proposal was too advantageous not 
to be accepted. Tedyuscung therefore immediately agreed to it, 
and in conjunction with the Six Nations, concerted a plan for 
bringing about a peace with the English, and for securing their 
lands. As it had been before agreed upon at Otsaningo to meet 
Sir William Johnson, Teedyuscung dispatched Nutimus, who had 
formerly been a king of one of the Delaware Tribes, with some 
of his people, to meet Sir William, and gave them orders how to 
act, while he himself prepared to meet the Governor of Pennsyl- 
vania. This he assumed to himself as being the most dangerous 
and hazardous enterprise, as he was obliged to go into the in- 
habited part of the country, and among a people v/ho could not 
but be much incensed against him for the ravages that had been 
committed by his people. Nor was this only the most hazardous ; 
it likewise required the greatest address, as with that government 
the affairs of the greatest importance were to be transacted. The 
Six Nations impowered him to act from them as a plenipoten- 
tiary, promising to ratify whatever he should do. 

[ 34] 



On the second of July the Delaware embassy who were 
joined by Packsinosa, the old Shawanese King, met Sir William 
Johnson at Onondago, and from thence proceeded to Fort John- 
son, where, on the loth of the same month, a treaty was held. 
At this Sir William painted the murders and devastations they 
had committed in strong colors, reproached them for their con- 
duct, and, after imputing it to the artifices of the French, told 
them, "that by virtue of a power received from his Majesty, if 
they were sincerely disposed to continue his Majesty's dutiful 
children, and to maintain their Fidelity towards him, and un- 
broken Peace and Friendship towards all his subjects, and their 
Brethren the English in these parts, and would exert their un- 
feigned zeal and best endeavours to reclaim those of their People 
who had been deluded by the French, upon these Conditions he 
was ready to renew the Covenant Chain of Peace and Friend- 
ship." To this the Delaware Chief, Nutimus, calmly replied 
that "he had carefully attended to what was said, that it was 
pleasing to him, but he could not take upon him to give a deter- 
minate answer, that he would punctually deliver the Speech to 
all his Nations on his return home, and that their fixed resolu- 
tions and positive answer should be returned as soon as possible." 

Upon receiving this answer. Sir William summoned a coun- 
cil of the Indians of the Six Nations who attended the Treaty, 
and informed them of the reply he intended to make, and said 
he expected they would second him therein. They told him they 
would speak to the Delawares, and prepare them for what he 
intended to say, and at the same time press them to declare their 
real intentions. 

The next day Sir William, addressing the Delaware Chief, 
Nutimus, let him know, "that what he had answered yesterday 
was somewhat surprising, as his Nation had been the Aggressors, 
and the English the injured Party; that the present state of 
affairs between the English and his People required a speedy and 
determinate issue ; that he had received accounts that Hostilities 
were still continued by some of the Delawares, and that therefore 
it was requisite that he should, without delay, explain himself in 
behalf of his Nation, in such an explicit and satisfactory Man- 
ner, that his Majesty's injured Provinces might know what part 
was proper for them to act, and that he might depend upon it, 
they would not continue tamely to bear the bloody injuries which 
they had for some time past suffered." 

Upon this, the Delaware Chief made answer "that his 
People had already ceased from Hostilities, that they would fol- 
low the example of the Six Nations, that they would take hold 
of the Covenant Chain that bound together the English and the 
Six Nations, that they renounced the Friendship of the French, 

[ 35 ] 



and as Sir William Johnson had used the Mohicons well, he 
promised to deliver up what English prisoners he held from 
among his people." After this, Sir William having expressed his 
satisfaction at what was said, offered them the hatchet against 
the French, which they accepted, and immediately sung the War 
Song and danced ; and upon their return, as the Shawanese King 
afterwards told Sir William Johnson, they informed Teedyus- 
cung of what was done. 

While these things were doing, Teedyuscung having taken 
the most proper measures (he left parties of his warriors be- 
tween the settlements of Pennsylvania and Wyoming, encamped 
at such distance from each other, that in case of his receiving 
any injury, they might soon know and revenge it) to secure him- 
self from danger, and to be revenged if any injury was offered 
him, set out with the messengers, to meet with the Governor of 
Pennsylvania. On the i8th of July, he arrived at Bethlehem, 
where he stopped, and sent some of his people with Captain 
Newcastle to Philadelphia, to inform the Governor of his ar- 
rival, and to let him know, he should be glad to meet him in the 
Forks, and that he came empowered to speak not only in behalf 
of his own people, but also of the Six United Nations. 

Captain Newcastle having arrived with this message, pressed 
the Governor to lose no time. "I have," said he, "been entrusted 
by you, with Matters of the highest concern; I now declare to 
you, that I have used all the abilities I am master of, in the 
management of them, and that with the greatest cheerfulness. 
I tell you in general, matters look well. I shall not go into par- 
ticulars. Teedyuscung will do this at the public Meeting, which 
he expects will be soon. The times are dangerous, the Sword is 
drawn and glittering, all around you, numbers of Indians on your 
Borders; I beseech you, therefore, not to give any delay, to this 
important affair. Say where the Council Fire is to be' kindled. 
Come to a conclusion immediately ; let us not wait a moment, lest 
what has been done, should prove ineffectual." The solemn man- 
ner in which this was delivered, affected the Governor, not less 
than the speech itself. Accordingly, by Capt. Newcastle's advice, 
Easton was fixed upon for the place of meeting, where the 
Governor, and four of his Council, three Commissioners from 
the Assembly, and about forty citizens of the city of Philadel- 
phia, chiefly of the people called Quakers, met the Indians, on 
the 28th of July, 1756. 

At the first meeting Governor Morris gave Teedyuscung 
and his people a hearty welcome, and Teedyuscung informed 
him, that he came authorized to speak in behalf of Ten Nations, 
as an Embassador from the Six Nations, and as a Chief or Head 
of the other Four; that he was now only to hear what the 

[36] 



Governor had to say, and make a report of it to the Ten united 
Nations. 

Hereupon, the Governor, the day following informed the 
Indians of the steps he had taken, after the Delawares had begun 
to commit hostilities, of the preparations he had made to carry 
the war into their country, from which he was diverted by the 
Six Nations, who informed him that at their interposition, the 
Delawares had laid down the hatchet; after which, he informed 
them of the several messages he had sent by Captain Newcastle, 
and the other Indian messengers, and of the answers he had 
received, and assured them, that Captain Newcastle acted by his 
authority. He let them know, that he, and his people, were well 
disposed to renew the ancient friendship, that subsisted between 
William Penn and the Indians, and desired this might be told to 
the Six Nations, and all the Indians far and near, whom he 
invited to come and meet him at the Council Fire, but insisted 
that as an evidence of their sincerity, and the only terms on 
which they might expect a true and a lasting Peace, they should 
bring down the prisoners. 

When the Governor had ended his speech, Teedyuscung 
took the belt out, which he had received .from the Six Nations, 
explained it to the Governor, and told him, that belt held to- 
gether Ten Nations, who were under the directions of two chiefs 
only, that these had their attention fixed to see, who were really 
disposed for peace ; that whoever was willing to guarantee these 
lands to the Indians, him they would join ; but whoever would 
not comply with these terms of peace, the Ten Nations would 
join against him and strike him. "Whoever," says he, "will 
make Peace, let him lay hold of this Belt, and the Nations around 
shall see and know it. — I wish the same good Spirit, that pos- 
sessed the good old William Penn, may inspire the People of 
this Province, at this time.'' The Governor accepted the belt, 
and declared he was most heartily disposed to effect the mean- 
ing of it ; and in return gave Teedyuscung another, and desired 
him to show it everywhere, and to make known the good dis- 
positions of the people of this government, and the treatment he 
had met with, to his own people, the Six Nations, and all his 
allies. And having before requested Teedyuscung to be an 
agent for the province among the Indians, he took out two belts 
joined together, and addressing, Newcastle and Teedyuscung 
declared them agents for the province, and gave them authority 
to do the public business together. He recommended to them 
mutual confidence, esteem and intimacy, and wished them success 
in their negotiations. They undertook the charge, promised to 
be mutual good friends, and do every thing in their power to 
promote the weighty matters entrusted to them. 

[ y? ] 



After the Treaty Teedyuscung returned to his country, and 
Captain Newcastle to Philadelphia, from whence he was soon 
after dispatched by the Governor, by the way of Albany, to the 
Six Nations. And, not long after, returning from thence, he 
was seized with tlje Small-Pox, and died at Philadelphia much 
lamented. In the meantime, Teedyuscung sent messengers to the 
several tribes of Indians, under his jurisdiction, and to the Six 
Nations, to inform them of the reception he had met with, and to 
invite them to another meeting. Just as he was ready to set out 
he received a message from Fort Johnson, advising him against 
going to Pennsylvania. But as Teedyuscung paid no regard to 
the first message, another was sent, desiring the_ Indians not to 
go to Pennsylvania, for that letters were come from Philadelphia, 
informing that a plot was laid to cut them off as soon as any 
considerable number could be got together. This overtook 
Teedyuscung on his march. Teedyuscung neither altogether 
gave credit to the message, nor yet quite disbelieved it, so that 
while he determined to proceed, he resolved to take what steps 
were necessary to guard against the worst. Therefore sending 
back the greatest part of the women and children, he came down 
with his own and a few other families, having left some of his 
ablest captains and bravest warriors at proper places on the 
frontiers, to wait for accounts how he was received, and to act 
accordingly. Some time before Teedyuscung came down. Lord 
Loudon wrote to the Governor, Denny, and forbade him, or 
his government, to confer or treat with the Indians in any shape, 
or on any account, whatever ; and directed that whatever business 
in that branch of his Majesty's service should arise in the govern- 
ment, or province, should be referred to Sir William Johnson, 
whom his Majesty had appointed sole agent for these affairs 
under his Lordship's direction. When, therefore, the Governor 
received the news of Teedyuscung's arrival, he was greatly at a 
loss what to do, and applied for advice to the Assembly, who 
were then sitting. The Assembly gave it as their opinion, that 
the Treaty begun by the late Governor, before Sir William John- 
son's powers were made known, in pursuance of which the In- 
dians were come down, should not be wholly discontinued, lest 
the Indians should be disgusted, and the opportunity of bringing 
them to a general peace with all the British Colonies lost. "We 
rather think it advisable that your Honour would give them an 
Interview, make them the customary presents in behalf of this 
Government, to relieve their necessities, and assure them of our 
sincere inclinations to take them again into Friendship, forgive 
their offences, and made a firm Peace with them ; but at the same 
time to let them know, that the Government of this Province 
cannot agree to make a Peace with them for itself, and leave 

[ 38 ] 



them at Liberty to continue the War with our Brethren of the 
neighboring Colonies ; that our King has appointed Sir WilHam 
Johnson to manage these general Treaties for all the Government 
in this part of America, and to him we must therefore refer the 
Indians for a final conclusion and ratification of this Treaty. An 
interview of this kind with the Indians, we apprehend, may at 
this time be greatly for his Majesty's Service, and not inconsis- 
tent with the intention of Lord Loudon's letter." 

THE SECOND TREATY OF 1 756 

Teedyuscung having, about the latter end of October, ar- 
rived with a number of Delawares, Shawanese, and Mohicons, 
and some deputies from the Six Nations, the Governor, with his 
secretary, and one of his Council, four Commissioners appointed 
by the Assembly, and a number of citizens of the city of Phila- 
delphia, chiefly of the people called Quakers, met him at Easton 
on the 8th of November. After several days had been spent to 
little purpose, it was proposed to ask the Indians the cause of 
their uneasiness, to which the Governor having agreed, the fol- 
lowing paragraph was added to the speech he had already pre- 
pared. 

"Brother Teedyuscung, what I am now going to say should 
have been mentioned some time ago: I now desire your strict 
attention to it. You were pleased to tell me the other day that 
the League of Friendship, made by your Forefathers, was yet 
fresh in your memory ; you said that it was made strong, so that 
a small thing could not easily break it. As we are now met 
together at a Council Fire, kindled by both of us, and have pro- 
mised on both sides to be free and open to one another, I must 
ask you how that League of Friendship came to be broken? 
Have we, the Governor or the People of Pennsylvania done you 
any kind of injury? If you think we have, you should be honest, 
and tell us your Hearts: You should have made complaints 
before you struck us, for so it was agreed in our ancient League. 
However, now the great Spirit has thus happily brought us once 
more together, speak your Mind plainly on this head, and tell us, 
if you have any just cause of complaint, what is it. That I may 
obtain a full answer to this point, I give you this Belt of Wam- 
pum." 

In answer to this Teedyuscung assigned three causes; first, 
the imprudent conduct of Charles Broadhead, and second, the 
instigations of the French. And, lastly (which made the blow 
fall the harder), the grievances he and his people suffered from 
this government and the Jerseys. 

The Governor calling upon him to explain what these griev- 
ances were. 

[ 39 ] 



"I have not," says he. "far to go fen* an Instance; this 
groniul that is under me (stamping with liis foot), is mine, and 
has been taken from me by fraud and forgery." The Governor 
asked him what he meant by fraud and forgery. To this he 
repHed, "When one man had formerly Liberty to purchase 
Lands, and he took a deed from the Indians for it. and then dies, 
if, after his death, his Children forge a Deed like the true one, 
with the same Indians' Names to it, and thereby take Lands 
from the Imlians which they never sold: This is Fraud. Also 
when one King has Lands beyond the River, and another has 
lands on this Side, both bounded by Rivers, Creeks, and Springs, 
which cannot be moved and the Proprietaries, greedy to purchase 
Lands, buy of one King what belongs to the other : This likewise 
is Fraud." "Have you," said the Governor, "been served so?" 
"Yes," replied Teedyuscung, "I have been served so in this 
Province. All the Laml extending from Tohiccon over the great 
Mountain as far as Wyoming is mine, of wdiich some has been 
taken from me by fraud. For when I agreed to sell the Land to 
the old Proprietary by the Course of the River, the young Pro- 
prietaries came and got it run by a straight course by the Com- 
pass, and by that means ttx>k in double the quantity intended to 
be sold." 

It may be deemed foreign to the purpose to mention the 
opposition that was made by Secretary Peters and C. Weiser to 
the asking the Indians the cause of their uneasiness, and how the 
Secretary threw down his pen, and declared he would take no 
Minutes when the King came to complain of the Proprietaries. 
These things, therefore, being passed over, we shall only observe, 
that, after some debate it w-as agreed upon, at the instance of the 
Commissioners, to offer the Indians immediate satisfactions for 
the injury supposed had been done them, whether their claim was 
just or not. This being done, Teedyuscung let the Governor 
know that the main design of his present coming was to re- 
establish peace, after which he intended at another meeting to 
lay open his grievances; that he had done that now only at the 
request of the Governor, but was not impowered to receive any 
satisfaction at this time ; that several were absent who were con- 
cerned in these lands; that he would endeavor to bring these 
dow-n at the next meeting, and that then the matter might be 
further considered and settled. jMeanwhile the Governor sent 
messengers to the various tribes requesting them to join with 
the Delawares at the next Treaty. The Governor and Mr. George 
Croghan. deputy Indian agent, wrote to Sir William Johnson to 
send down a number of the Six Nations to assist at the proposed 
meeting. These came down first, in number about one hundred 
and sixty men. women and children. On the 29th of March, 

[ 40 ] 






























.'."f^-^g^ 



I'AK.soN's kI'„sii)i:n(:i:, I'.ki.c i i.d 1757 




01. n MAKKI'/I' IIOUSK Al' VHE KN rKANCK OF NOR I M THIKI) SIKIJ/r 1SI2 



1757, Mr. Croghan met them at Harrisburgon the Susquehanna, 
and was informed by them that Teedyuscung was gone into the 
Senecas country to get a number of Senecas to come down with 
him ; that he would be down as soon as possible with 200 Indians, 
but whether he would come to Easton or to Harrisburg they 
could not tell. 

From Harrisburg they were persuaded to come to Lancaster, 
where having waited till the 26th of April, and the Small-Pox 
breaking out among them, and finding Teedyuscung did not 
come, they sent messengers to Philadelphia to invite the Gov- 
ernor to come and meet them, as they wanted to go home again. 
On the 9th of May the Governor arrived at Lancaster, and on 
the 1 2th had a meeting with the Indians, at which he informed 
them of what had passed between him and the Delawares, and 
desired they would advise him what measures they thought 
would be most likely to bring about a peace with the Indians. 
In answer to this the Six Nation Chief told the Governor, "it 
gave him and his people great satisfaction to hear that he had 
been so fortunate as to find out the true Causes from whence the 
differences arose between the English and the Delawares and the 
Shawaneses, for that they and Sir W. Johnson had taken a. 
great deal of Pains to find out this without success." After this 
he informs the Governor of the meeting of the Six Nation 
Deputies had with the Delawares at Otsaningo, and how the 
Delawares had thrown off their dependence and declared they 
would no longer acknowledge any but the Senecas as their uncles 
and superiors. "Now, Brother, says he our advice to you is, 
that you send proper messengers to the Senecas to invite them 
with the Delawares and the Shawanese to a Meeting with you 
liere, and when they come, be very careful in your proceedings 
with them, and do not be rash, and it will be in your power to 
settle all differences subsisting between you and them." 

In answer to this the Governor thanked the Indians for 
informing him of the close connection between the Delawares 
and the Senecas, acknowledged their advices were good and 
wholesome, and in pursuance of it, he said, that he would send 
to Teedyuscung to come down, and leave it entirely to his choice 
to bring with him such, and so many, of his uncles and others, 
liis friends, as he thinks best. 

After this George Crogham having informed the Indians 
that he was appointed and ordered by Sir William Johnson to 
enquire into, and hear, the complaints of the Indians, and, if 
justly grounded, to use his endeavours to get them redressed, 
insisted upon it that those present should open their hearts to 
him without reserve, and to inform him of every thing they 
Icnew concerning frauds complained of by Teedyuscung, or any 

[ 41 ] 



other injuries or injustice done, to them, or any of the Tribes of 
the Six Nations or other Indians in Alliance with his Majesty 
King George in this or the neighboring colonies, that he might 
be enabled to represent the true state of their grievances to his 
Majesty.. He further desired them to recommend it to the Dela- 
wares and Shawanese to come down and give the Governor a 
meeting; to make their complaints appear and have them ad- 
justed, else he would take it for granted they had no just cause 
for complaint. Hereupon the Six Nation speaker assigned four 
causes which gave rise to the present quarrel between the English 
and the Delawares and Shawanese; first, the death of the Dela- 
ware Chief (Weekweley) who, for accidently killing a man, 
was hanged in the Jerseys. Secondly, the imprisonment of some 
Shawanese warriors in Carolina where the chief man of the party 
died. Thirdly, the dispossessing the Indians of their land. And 
lastly, the instigations of the French. On the two last heads he 
said, "We must now inform you, that in former times our Fore- 
fathers conquered the Delawares, and put Petticoats on them : A 
long time after that, they lived among you our Brothers; but, 
upon some difference between you and them, we thought proper 
to remove them, giving them Lands to plant and hunt on at 
Wyoming and Juniata on Susquehanna: But you, covetous of 
Land, made Plantations there, and spoiled their Hunting 
Grounds : They then complained to us, and we looked over those 
Lands, and found their Complaints to be true. At this time they 
carried on a Correspondence with the French, by which means 
the French became acquainted with all the causes of Complaint 
they had against you, and your People were daily increasing 
their Settlements, by this means you drove them back into the 
arms of the French, and they took the advantage of spiriting 
them up against you, by telling them, children you see, and we 
have often told you, how the English your Brethren would serve 
you, they plant all the Country^ and drive you back, so that in a 
little time you will have no Land. It is not so with us; tho' we 
build Trading- Houses on your Land we do not plant it ; we have 
our Provisions from over the great water. We have opened our 
hearts to you, and told you what complaints we have heard that 
they had against you, and our advice to you is that you send for 
the Senecas and them, treat them kindly, and rather give them 
some part of their Fields back again than to differ with them: 
It is in your power to settle all differences with them if you 
please. As to what passed between you and Teedyuscung last 
Fall, respecting the Purchase of Lands, we know nothing of it. 
They are not here, and if we enquire we can only hear what you 
say on that head. We should have been glad the Delawares and 
Shawanese had been here at this time, that we might have heard 

[ 42 ] 



the complaints on both sides; then we should have been able to. 
judge who were in the fault, and we are determined to see Jus- 
tice done to the Party aggrieved. You say, if you have done the 
Indians any Injustice you are willing to make them Satisfaction. 
We are glad to hear it ; and as you have Writings to refresh your 
memories about every Transaction that has happened between 
you and the Delawares and Shawanese, we recommend it heartily 
to you to do them Justice." As the Six Nations had so warmly 
pressed the sending for the Senecas the Governor promised it 
should be done, and accordingly he sent a message to Teedyus- 
cung, to inform him of the advice the Six Nations had given, in 
consequence of which he desired him to come down as soon as 
it would suit his convenience, and to bring with him the Senecas, 
or such of them as would be agreeable to him, to open his heart 
to his brethren and he promised him if it should appear that he 
had been defrauded of his lands, or received any other injuries 
from this province, he should receive satisfaction. This was 
sent by special messenger from Lancaster to Teedyuscung, who 
upon receiving this, hastened to Easton, the place of meeting,, 
where he arrived about the middle of July I757- 

THE TREATY OF 1 757 

Teedyuscung having brought a few principal men of the 
Senecas as well as from the rest of the Six Nations. These with 
his own people made in all about 300 men, women and children. 
The Governor, with six of his Council, the Speaker of the House 
of Assembly, four of the Provincial Commissioners, and one or 
two other members of Assembly, with a number of citizens of 
Philadelphia, and other inhabitants of the province, attended this 
Treaty. Before the public business began, Teedyuscung applied 
to the Governor to allow him the liberty of appointing a person 
to take down the Minutes of the Treaty for him with the Sec- 
retary appointed by the Governor. He had seen the Secretary 
of the Province, at the last Treaty, of Easton, throw down his 
pen, and declare he would not take Minutes when complaints 
were made against the Proprietors. He did not know but that 
the same thing might happen again, as the same complaints would 
be repeated. Besides, the business to be transacted was of the 
utmost importance, and required to be exactly minuted, which 
he had thought might be best done by the method he proposed. 
The Governor then presented George Croghan to Teedyuscung, 
and the day following told him, that Sir William Johnson "had 
constituted and appointed Mr. Croghan his Deputy-Agent for 
Indian Affairs in this Province, with particular directions to hear 
any Complaints, and assist in accommodating the Differences the 
Indians might have with his Majesty's Subjects, and particularly 
those set forth at the Treaty in November last. As to the Matter 

[ 43 ] 



of a Secretary, he let Teedyuscung know, that by a particular 
agreement between him and Mr. Croghan at the last Treaty at 
Lancaster, no one was to take Minutes of the Proceedings but 
the Secretary appointed by Mr. Croghan ; that he had been fur- 
ther told, it was the constant practice of Sir William Johnson, 
as well as all others who have the conduct of Indians Affairs, to 
employ their own Secretaries." "And, as this method, con- 
tinues he, was settled at Lancaster as a precedent to be observed 
in future Treaties, I shall not take upon me to make any altera- 
tion in this respect." 

Teedyuscung, looking upon this as a denial was much dis- 
satisfied. The refusal of a demand so just and reasonable, and 
which he had made only for the sake of truth and regularity, 
awakened his suspicion, and induced him to believe that there 
was a design to lead him on blindfold, and in the dark, or to 
take advantage of his ignorance. Therefore, considering the 
demand, he made no longer as a matter of favour, but as what 
he had a right to, and not only as reasonable but absolutely 
necessary to come at the truth ; and as it had been a thing agreed 
upon in his Council at home, he resolved once more to insist on 
its being granted, and if the Governor persisted in refusing it to 
him, he determind not to treat, but to break up and go home. 

The commissioners were mere spectators of the controversy 
between the other three factions but when they saw that the 
chief men of the Six Nations, who having become disgusted at 
the proceedings, proposed returning home, they wrote a mes- 
sage to Governor Denny, politely asking for some information 
on certain subjects. The Governor who was a newly imported 
EngHshman replied in the same imperious manner that he had 
meted out to the Friendly Association and very forcibly ex- 
pressed the opinion that their official duties did not extend to 
the Conference with the Indians. To this, they replied with a 
very remarkable message, which frightened poor Denny so much, 
that he failed to take advantage of the opportunity and hang 
the commissioners for treason. This famous document was 
probably the first outburst of liberty in the Forks of the Dela- 
ware. 

Easton, August i, 1757. 
^'Sir: 

"We are by no means fond of entering into a Controversy 
with you respecting our Right of remonstrating, whether it be 
as Commissioners, Representatives of the People, or as Freemen 
of the Province; but your late Letter to us is of such nature 
that we should be wanting to ourselves, our Posterity and 
Country, should we omit asserting the indisputable privileges 

[ 44 ] 



that inseparably appertain to these several Characters, and vindi- 
cating our Conduct in presenting the Remonstrance. 

This remonstrance was made from an indespensable Obliga- 
tion we were under to avert from a People already too much 
distress'd the Insupportable ill-consequences of a Continuance 
of the Indian Incursions & Massacres which were threaten'd by 
Teedyuscung, and in all probability must have ensued had you 
persisted in refusing him a Demand which all Impartial Persons 
must think reasonable, and which appears to be so from your 
granting it. No ill effect could proceed from allowing this- 
Demand, but many from a denial of it — Jealousy and Distrust 
on the part of the Indians ; a break of the Peace 'solemly settled' 
by you at the last Treaty held at this place ; a general dissatisfac- 
tion of the Natives ; and of Course a Continuance of the Devesta- 
tions and Murders of our distressed frontier inhabitants; and a. 
total Alliance of the affections of the Indians from His Majesty's^ 
Interest. 

And yet you are pleased to declare that our taking upon us 
to remonstrate ags't a Measure pregnant with these Mischiefs is 
illegal, unconstitutional, introductive of the greatest confusion, 
and the highest Invasion of the Rights of the Crown. We have 
often found that charges against Men, and a Misrepresentation 
of their Actions, are easier made than supported and justified. 
You will be pleased to remember that we have as Commissioners 
a joint power with you in the Disposition of publick money, and 
are in duty bound to see it appropriated for the benefit of the 
People we represent ; and if we apprehend any Steps are taking 
which are inconsistent with the Welfare of the Province, We are 
not only obliged to remonstrate against them, but to refuse to 
defray the Expence of them. 

As a Committee of Assembly and Representatives of the 
Province, we also claim a right to address you on any Occasion 
whatever for the Publick Good; And we must inform you we 
desire the same Right from the Characters of the Englishmen 
and Freemen whose Lives and Properties are immediately con- 
cerned in the Event and Success of this Conference. 

The first Proprietor in Consideration that our Forefathers 
would leave their native Land and become joint Adventurers 
with him in setthng a Wilderness covenanted to Indemnify them 
from all Indian Claims. To enable him to do which an Act was., 
passed giving him the sole Power of purchasing Lands of the 
Natives, and as yet we find that Indian Purchases have been sa 
managed that the Natives now claim those very Lands, insist that 
they have been defrauded of them, and that those Frauds have 
been one of the Causes of the Destruction of Multitudes of our- 
Fellow Subjects. 

[ 45 ] 



To settle those matters of Property only is the Business of 
the present Conference; and if our Attendance on it, the Place 
•being Solemnly concluded by you at the last Treaty with Teedy- 
uscung, as appears by the minutes, and yet to Remonstrate, or 
;give you any information in this important affair in which the 
People are so remarkably concerned, it seems is highly criminal 
in your Opinion. Had we claimed and insisted on the Right of 
making Peace and War, or of directing the modes to be observed 
in conducting the present Treaty, or of Nominating a Clerk for 
the Chief as pertaining to our Stations, you might with some 
degree of Justice, have charged us with 'Invading the just Rights 
•of the Crown.' But as no reasonable Construction can justly 
extend the Remonstrance to any such claim, we are astonished 
.you should be prevailed on by any sett of men whatever to exhibit 
such a Charge against us without the least Foundation. Our 
■Remonstrance was decent and respectful, only advising, and far 
:f rom directing or dictating to you. The Chief made a reasonable 
Demand, such as he apprehended was the only means of pre- 
'venting any future misunderstandings between his Majesty's 
Subjects and the Natives; a Demand which was resolved on in 
full Council at Diahoga before his arrival here; and to enforce 
■which he prepared a Belt; and a Demand which he was deter- 
mined to have granted to him, or to depart without proceeding 
on the Business of the Conference. 

Cou'd the Governor imagine that a free People can see their 
Country the Theatre of Rapine, Bloodshed, & Confusion, their 
fellow-Subjects destroyed, their Habitations deserted, their 
Wives and Children massacred, or carried into the most bar- 
barous Captivity, and not interest themselves in averting those 
inexpressible Evils, when the fairest Opportunity that ever of- 
fered presents itself? And is it possible that you can entertain 
such an Opinion of us to imagine we are to be detered from 
remonstrating against measures which we apprehend had a 
Tendency to promote a Continuance of these Misfortunes? This 
in all free -Governments (and we hope the one we live in is so). 
Where Tyranny and Despotism are not in fashion, is what the 
People, both by Law and the nature of the Constitution, have a 
Right to do whenever any Measures are taking which they con- 
ceive Inconsistent with the Publick Welfare, much more against 
those which, instead of Securing the Tranquility of the Com- 
munity, carry an aspect of involving the whole People in a Scene 
-of Blood, War and Confusion. 

You are pleased to think it an heinous Offence that we 
should 'Give an Opinion,' tho' in a matter that so nearly con- 
cerned us, 'and then pronounce the Demand so reasonable and 
just.' If Teedyuscung's Demand was reasonable and just, as it 

[ 46 ] 




i(J\ t \-)vl ^i>t\{ 



■*''** " ,1.. 



till "J iB Vc^^ 










^wat ThTMouth"of theBushkill Before the Road up the Delaware was Opened 



^ 



/^ 







V,ew D„»„ .he De,.«„e F,o„ ,H. C.n., o, F.o„. and F«rv S,„e,. A„er ,K. Con,.,e.o„ „. 

the State Canal About 18S0 



appears from your granting it, wherein could the crime consist 
in pronouncing it so, or 'of giving our Opinion of the Matter?' 
We know of no Law against giving an Opinion in any matter 
whatever, provided it is not treasonable or inconsistent with the 
Publick Peace; And we hope never to see the Time when a 
Governor's Prohibitions shall have the Sanction of a Law, or 
the same regard paid to it, and should we submit to it now, you 
may hereafter with equal Justice forbid us to speak, and at last 
to have any Notion at all. 

We entreat you to consider that we are Freemen, and Sub- 
jects to a gracious King, who never disputed his People's Right 
to address him on any Occasion whatever. Nor ever thought it 
repugnant to his 'Honour' or inconsistent with the 'Duty of the 
Station' of his Governors to receive the decent and moderate 
remonstrances of his Subjects, where their Lives and Properties 
were concerned ; That we shall ever be tenacious of our Rights, 
and shall with freedom Remonstrate to you whenever the Duty 
of our Station, or our Interests as Freemen and Subjects, shall 
■direct us for the Publick Good; and we so far from suspecting 
that we shall incur his Majesty's Displeasure therein, that we 
doubt not but, on a fair Representation to him, we shall meet 
with that Justice and Redress which must ever flow from the 
Throne of a Gracious King and Father of his people, and the 
known Wisdom of his Parliaments. 

We are. Sir, Your most obedient humble Servants, 

Jos. Galloway, 
Wm. Masters, 
Jos. Fox, 
John Hughes." 

Thereupon the Governor told Teedyuscung that as no Indian 
Chief before him ever demanded to have a clerk, and none had 
ever been appointed for Indians in former Treaties, as he had 
not even nominated one on the part of the Province, he could 
not help declaring it against his judgment. "However to give 
you a fresh Proof of my Friendship and Regard, if you will 
insist upon having a Clerk I shall no longer oppose it." 

Four days being spent in this debate, the public Treaty began 
next day, Teedyuscung having first nominated a person to take 
Minutes of the proceedings for him. The person he nominated 
was one Charles Thompson, who had, at the particular request 
of Mr. Peters, taken Minutes at the last Easton Treaty, and of 
whom, it is likely, the Indians had conceived a good opinion from 
the close attention he gave to the business when the Secretary 
of the Province seemed confused and threw down his pen. 

[ 47 ] 



The Govoernor opened the conference in public, by inform- 
ing Teedyuscung, that he was glad to meet him once more with 
his people and some of the Six Nations according to the agree- 
ment of November last ; He put him in mind of the question that 
was asked relating to the cause of the breach between the Eng- 
lish and the Delawares, and of the answer he gave. He let him 
know that he had laid the proceedings of that Treaty before Sir 
William Johnson, appointed by the King sole Agent for Indian 
Affairs in this Dstirct and that he had deputed Mr. George 
Croghan to act in his behalf, to attend this Treaty, and enquire 
into every grievance the Indians may have suffered, either from 
their brethren of Pennsylvania or the neighboring Provinces. 

After this Mr. Croghan, addressing the Indians, told them, 

"That he was ordered by Sir William Johnson to attend this 
meeting and to hear any complaints they had to make against 
their Brother Onas, in respect to his defrauding them of their 
Lands mentioned in the last Easton Treaty or any other Injuries 
they had received from any of his Majesty's subjects, and he 
assured them in the name of Sir William Johnson, he would do 
every thing in this power to have all differences amicably ad- 
justed to their satisfaction, and agreeable to his orders and 
instructions." 

In answer to this, Teedyuscung having assigned the same 
cause of the difference between them and the English, that he 
had at the last Treaty at Easton, and referred the Governor and 
his people to their own hearts and writings for the truth of what 
he had said; and having hinted at the injustice of the English in 
taking all the lands from the Indians, and leaving them no place 
for a residence, he told the Governor that he now put it in his 
power to make a lasting peace : That he wanted nothing but what 
was reasonable; that this land was first given to the Indians by 
the Almighty Power who made all things ; that also, "It has 
pleased him to convey you to us, and unite us in Friendship in 
the MsLuner already mentioned, which was well known by our 
Ancestors, it is now in your Power, and depends entirely on 
your care and diligence, that it may not be broken, as it has 
been, and if it be broken it will be owing to you. This I ask, 
that I may have some place for a settlement and other good 
purposes, in which we may both agree ; but as I am a free Agent, 
as well as you, I must not be bound up, but have Liberty to 
settle where I please." 

As the Indian King had been for four or five days (viz. 
from the day before the public Treaty began, to the time of his 
delivering this speech) kept almost continually drunk, it is not 
to be wondered that several parts of his speech, as it stands in 

[48 ] 



the Minutes, appear dark and confused, as they did to the 
Governor; more especially as the interpreter, at the time the 
speech was delivered, was dozed with liquor and want of sleep. 

However, after this, being, by the interposition of his coun- 
cil, restrained from liquor, and next morning, when sober, called 
upon Mr. Croghan, at the desire of the Governor, to explain what 
he had said the day before, and in particular whether he con- 
tinued the complaints he had last Fall, about his being defrauded' 
of lands, and where he intended to settle, he made the following, 
speech : 

"The complaints I made last Fall I yet continue. I think 
some lands have been bought by the Proprietary or his Agents 
from Indians who had not a right to sell, and to whom the Lands 
did not belong. I think also, when some Lands have been sold 
to the Proprietary by some Indians who had a right to sell to a. 
certain Place, whether that purchase was to be measured by 
Miles or Hours Walk, that the Proprietaries have, contrary tO' 
agreement or bargain, taken more Lands than they ought to have 
done, and Lands that belonged to others. I therefore now desire 
you will produce the Writings and Deeds by which you hold the 
Land, and let them read in public and examine these, that it may 
be fully known from what Indians you have bought the Lands- 
you hold, and how far your Purchases extend, that copies of the 
whole may be laid before King George and published to all the 
Provinces under his Government. What is fairly bought and 
paid for I make no further demands about. But if any Lands 
have been bought of Indians to whom these Lands did not belong,, 
and who had no right to sell them. I expect a satisfaction for 
these Lands. And if the Proprietaries have taken in more than 
they bought of the true owners, I expect likewise to be paid for 
that. But as the persons to whom the Proprietaries may have 
sold these Lands, which of right belonged to me, have made 
some Settlements, I do not want to disturb them or to force them 
to leave them, but I expect a full Satisfaction shall be made to 
the true owners for these Lands tho' the Proprietaries, as I said 
before, might have bought them from persons that that had no 
right to sell them. As we intend to settle at Wyoming, we want 
to have certain Boundaries fixed between you and us, and a cer- 
tain Tract of Land fixed, which it shall not be lawful for us or 
our Children ever to sell, nor for you or any of your Children 
ever to buy. We shall have the boundaries fixed all around 
agreeable to the Draught we give you (here he drew a Draught 
with chalk on the Table) that we may not be pressed on any 
side, but have certain boundaries of a Country fixed for the use 
of our Children forever. And as we intend to make a Settle- 
ment at Wyoming and to build different houses from what we 

[ 49 ] 



have done hitherto, such as may last not only for a little time, 
but for our Children after us; we desire you will assist us in 
making our settlements, and send us persons to instruct us in 
building houses, and in making such necessaries as shall be need- 
ful ; and that Persons be sent to instruct us in Christian Religion, 
which may be for our future welfare, and to instruct our Chil- 
dren in reading and in writing; and a fair trade be established 
between us, and such persons appointed to conduct and manage 
these affairs as shall be agreeable to us." 

Notwithstanding the messages Mr. Croghan and the Gov- 
ernor had sent to Teedyuscung, the promises made at Lancaster, 
and what both had said in the beginning of the present Treaty, 
of their willingness and readiness to hear the complaints of the 
Indians, and to redress their grievances, yet when the Governor 
came to answer this speech, he told Teedyuscung that "he must 
refer him to Sir William Johnson ; that the orders of his 
Majesty's Ministers were that the Indians' complaints should be 
heard before Sir William Johnson only; that Mr. Croghan had 
informed him he had no power to suffer any altercations on this 
complaint, and that he had not thought it would be for the good 
of his Majesty's Service, etc." 

"As to the Lands between Shamokin and Wyoming the Pro- 
prietaries had never bought them of the Indians and therefore 
never claimed them under any Indian purchase ; that he was 
pleased with the choice they had made of that Place, and would 
use all the means in his power to have these Lands settled upon 
him and his posterity agreeable to his request; and as to the 
other purposes for which he desired this settlement of Lands, 
they were so reasonable that he made no doubt, but, on his re- 
cotjimendation of them to the Assembly, they would cheerfully 
enable him to comply with them." 

This speech having been delivered, the Indian King and his 
Council immediately withdrew to deliberate upon it. The result 
of this Council was. that they would not go to Sir William John- 
son, and that the reasons of their refusal might appear in full 
strength, they agreed to follow the example of the Governor and 
to have their speech written down and examined in Council and 
then read to the Governor. The manner in which the King had 
before delivered himself in public induced the Council to press 
this measure now. 

Accordingly, next morning they again met, sent for the Sec- 
retary, and had the speech written down and carefully examined. 
But when the King met the Governor at the public conference, 
and desired that what was written down in Council might be 
read and accepted as his speech, both the Governor and Mr. 

[ 50 ] 



Croghan joined in opposing it. After some debate Teedyuscung 
finding they would not grant him the privilege they had taken 
themselves, informed them from his memory, of the substance 
of what was agreed upon in Council ; and after taking notice of 
the inconsistency that appeared to him in the Governor's telling 
him at one time, that George Croghan was Sir William Johnson's 
Deputy, and appointed to act between the English and Indians, 
and at another, that he had no power, etc., he gave the Governor 
to understand that he would not go to Sir William Johnson ; first, 
because he did not know Sir William ; next, because there were 
the Nations who had been instrumental to this misunderstanding, 
by the manner in which they had heretofore treated them, and 
by selling lands in this Province, and lastly, because the deferring 
matters might again embroil us in war. He further told the 
Governor, that he then wanted nothing for his lands, but only 
that the Deeds might be produced, and well looked into, and 
copies of them taken and put with the Minutes of the Treaty. 
This done, he offered to confirm a peace immediately: And, as 
to the injury he imagined he had received in land affairs, he left 
that to be decided by the King of England and said he would 
wait his determination. "Let Copies of the Deeds be sent to the 
King, and let him judge. I want nothing of the Land till the 
King hath sent Letters back, and then if any of the Lands be 
found to belong to me, I expect to be paid for it, and not be- 
fore." 

The Governor finding that Teedyuscung was not to be put 
off, resolved in appearance to comply with his request. But as 
it was agreed not to deliver up all the Deeds, and as this might 
give umbrage to the Indians, Mr. Weiser and Mr. Croghan were 
privately sent to practice with Teedyuscung, and to get him to be 
content with the delivery of a part, alleging that the whole of the 
Deeds was not brought up, but such only as were necessary, and 
relating to his complaint and the late purchases. Part of two 
days being spent in these practices, and the Indians in the mean 
time plied with liquor, the Governor met the Indians, and having 
assigned some late orders, from the King's Ministers as the cause 
of his referring Teedyuscung to Sir William Johnson, he told 
him, that as he so earnestly desired to see the Deeds for the lands, 
mentioned in the last Treaty, he had brought them with him, and 
would give Teedyuscung copies of them agreeable to his request. 
Thereupon some deeds being laid upon the table, the Governor 
desired that all further debates and altercations concerning lands 
might rest till they should be fully examined, and looked into by 
Sir William Johnson, in order to be transmitted to the King of 
England for his Royal determination. When Teedyuscung was 
made sensible that the Deeds were delivered, without examina- 

[51 ] 



tion to see what Deeds they were, he immediately, in the name of 
the Ten Nations, solemnly concluded a peace. The reading of 
the Deeds was put off till next day. In the mean time, upon 
examination, it was found very few Deeds were delivered, and 
those not sufficient to throw full light into the matter of dispute, 
which showed there was no design of doing justice, or of making 
a full and candid enquiry into the complaints of the Indians. The 
Deed of 1718 was withheld; a paper, called a copy of the last 
Indian Purchase in 1686, tho' not even attested to be a copy, was 
produced for a Deed. Mr. Thompson, who was Teedyuscung's 
Secretary, having, before he knew there was any intention of 
nominating him to take Minutes, had an opportunity of reading 
the Treaty in 1728, and seeing there the stress that was laid upon 
the Deed of 1718, and considering farther that the Governor, as 
being but lately arrived, might be unacquainted with the matter, 
thought he could not, consistent with his duty, do less than inform 
the Governor there was such a Deed. This he did by a letter 
which he delivered into the Governor's own hands. This how- 
ever had not the desired effect: For the next day, when the 
Deeds were again produced, that of 1718 was still wanting. The 
Proprietary's Agents, it seems, had laid the plan, and it was 
necessary to prosecute that at all adventures, let the consequence 
be what it would. For this reason, doubtless, it was that the 
Deed of 1718 was withheld; that the paper, called a copy, was 
produced for a Deed, tho' there was no kind of certificate to it 
to attest that it was even a copy, and blanks were left in two of 
the most material places, which it cannot well be imagined a true 
Deed could have, or that the Indians would ever knowingly have 
executed. However, it was necessary this should be produced, 
because on it depended the release of 1737 by virtue of which 
the walk was made, and the greatest part of the land in dispute 
taken from the Indians. Beside these, were produced a release 
from the Indians of the Five Nations of the lands on the Sus- 
quehanna River, October 11, 1736. A release from the Six 
Nations of the lands below the mountains eastward to the Dela- 
ware River, dated October 25, 1736, with another indorsed on it, 
dated the 9th of July, 1754. And, lastly, a Deed of Release for 
the Indian Purchases, dated 22d August, 1749. 

Upon finding that the Deed of 1718 was not delivered, not- 
withstanding the notice given to the Governor, Teedyuscung's 
Secretary informed Mr. Croghan, the King's Deputy-Agent 
thereof, by a letter written and delivered into his hands at the 
table in the time of the public Treaty. The reason in not men- 
tioning this in public was, least, if it came to the Indians ears 
that they were thus abused, they might break up the conference 
and go away dissatisfied. The ferment among the Indians and 

[ 52 ] 



' BY THE HONOURABLE 

WILLIAM DENNY, Efr, 

tiieUtenant-Gsvifno'^ t>f tbe Pro-.!nt.c *f I'cniu.'!. 'nia, and. 

W/ '"' ^ ^ ^ -^ '^ '^ ' '^t^' '""'"' ^'^ ' ^ " ' '■■ ■ '" '"' "* 

^^ h.:tn Ix-t-n <-?cor*iended un'i. '.{^ s--^,. f^^^am! 

ina ' >- - . • . c'r.iiv • - • ' tbr 

th« latncj I do Iicteby licence and alow* rhi, faid "^v. '.^•>,. 
, {''"',{,. * • V,V- ^- {6 keep S Piiblic-HotiCc I'p rhd 
A- _,, for the ii'lling of 



(., 



.vX, 



D 



Until the tent!? Day of ^'«<;«/? ne\r; PROVrotS X«- 
ftil! not sr an) Time daring the laid TctTO. fuffer mf 
t)RUNKENMESS, anuv.-ful GAMING, or an)' othc* 
Diiorders, not ftll any Diink to riu Indtjtis to dic;biu<3t 
or hurt them J kxlc in *!< Thing<: obfcrve snA ptavhce all 
• i.iws and Ordinances of thii Govcrntr.etir tn /i^% — , 
'iCutI Employment tL-bung, j, 



lv< / ^ 



V..»Yr- Day af iit^.,^f. m the I't'-^^T," 
" 'A .., . Te.tr of :he Fei^if t>f eutr Sweriign Lcrd Kfl^tS 
GbOlvGE «fk Scxondt dti in ihi ?><»* of our LQRB 

Frederick N.ineesser's Tavern License 



the resolution they had taken to go home but the evening before, 
upon imagining that some delays in the public business proceeded 
from a backwardness in the Governor to conclude a peace, gave 
apparent grounds for this fear. For this same reason it was that 
the Commissioners from the' Assembly, tho' they were sensible 
the necessary Deeds were not delivered, yet they took no public 
notice of it, at the time, being in the hopes that, upon more 
mature deliberation, the Governor would order what were fur- 
ther necessary to he afterwards added and sent to the King and 
Council. For, a just determination could not be given, while 
papers and Deeds of such importance were with-held, and as the 
lives of many of his Majesty's subjects and the alliance of many 
Indian Nations, depend on a just determination, it was not to be 
imagined that the Governor would join in deceiving the King and 
his Council in a matter of so great consequence. 

After the foregoing Deeds and papers were produced, and 
copies of them given, Teedyuscung requested that Mr. Norris, 
Speaker of the Assembly, together with the Assembly would 
look into these matters, and send to the King of England a copy 
of the Deeds and Minutes of this Treaty, and he hoped the 
Governor and Mr. Croghan would have no objection to this. 

TREATY OF I 758 

During this entire Treaty two things were laboured with 
the utmost diligence; to lessen the power of Teedyuscung and 
to save, if possible, a certain character. In both they failed; for 
Teedyuscung, instead of losing, had increased his power, and 
established himself at the head of the Five Tribes. The Indians, 
occupying the lands surrounding the lakes, consisted of three 
leagues : The Senecas, Mohawks, and Onondagoes, who were 
called the Fathers, composed the first; The Oneidas, Cayugas, 
Tuscorroras, Nanyicokes, and Conoys (which had united into 
one tribe), and the Tuteloes, composed the second league; and 
these two leagues made up what was called the Six Nations. 
Third league was formed from the Chihohocki (or Delawares), 
the Wanami, the Munseys, Mawhiccons, and Wapingers. From 
all these Nations, with the exception of two or three, three were 
the Chief Sachems here at the Treaty of Easton. The whole 
number of Indians, by the best account obtainable, amounted to 
501. 

On Saturday, October 8th, the Governor had the first inter- 
view with the Indians, at which very little more passed than the 
complaints usual at the first meeting. Monday and Tuesday the 
Indians were in close consultation among themselves, the place 
of their meeting being Croghan's. And there be it observed, 
that it afforded some matter of speculation why Croghan, who 
was there in no public capacity, should have been honored with 

[ 53 ] 



a guard at his door. The reason of the Indians meeting at his 
house was easily accounted for, as he treated them with Hquor 
and gave out that he himself was an Indian. The subject in de- 
bate those two days was whether what Teedyuscung had done 
should be allowed to stand or were they to begin anew? The 
grand thing aimed at by the Proprietary managers was to get 
Teedyuscung to retract the charge of fraud and forgery. In 
order to gain this point the Senecas and Six Nations were pri- 
vately treated with and prompted to undo what had been done, 
in order, as it pretended to establish their own authority and 
gain the credit of the peace. Teedyuscung and his people, abso- 
lutely refused to retract anything they had said. He insisted 
that what was done in the beginning of the war, was done by, 
and with, the advice and consent of the Senecas ; that the reasons 
he assigned to the Governor for the striking of the English, were 
true and the only reasons he had. The debates were warm. At 
length it was agreed that every thing that was already trans- 
acted, between Teedyuscung and the English, should stand; that 
at the opening of the general Council, Teedyuscung should make 
a short introductory speech, after which the Seneca and other 
Chiefs without invalidating anything already done, should pro- 
ceed to business. 

Matters thus settled, they broke up on Tuesday about ii 
o'clock, and expected to meet the Governor immediately, but the 
meeting was deferred till the next day. 

On Wednesday morning some of the Quakers got together 
the Chiefs and old men of the several Tribes, in order to smoke 
a pipe with them. After they had broken up, Mr. Chew of the 
Council, came to invite the Com.mittee of Assembly to a confer- 
ence, in order to show them the speech the Governor intended to 
make to the Indians, and to take their advice thereon; it being 
agreed before, that nothing should be said to the Indians, but 
what the Committee of Assembly and Commissioners should be 
previously acquainted with. The Council and Commissioners 
being agreed, the Indians were desired to meet ; while the Chiefs 
were calling them together, the Governor agreed to go to dinner, 
and desired the meeting to be deferred till four o'clock. As the 
Indians met when they received this, that they might not scatter, 
they agreed to sit down and wait at the place of meeting till the 
time appointed. At four o'clock the Governors came, when they 
had taken their seats, Teedyuscung arose and made a motion to 
speak, but the Governor of New Jersey said, as he had not yet 
welcomed the Indians, he desired to be heard first and after wel- 
coming the Indians in the name of his Province, he recapitulated 
what he had done to obtain an interview with them, confirmed 
what he had said in the messages he had sent them, professed his 

[ 54 ] 



desire to do them justice, and live at peace with them, but insisted 
upon their delivering up those of his people they had as prisoners 
among them, without which, he could never be convinced of their 
sincerity. He further added, that as the Senecas and Cayugas 
had undertaken to answer his message to the Munseys, he was 
ready to hear what they, or any Indians there had to say respect- 
ing his Province. 

As soon as he had done, Teedyuscung arose, and address- 
ing the Governors said, that as he had been desired to invite 
down several Nations of Indians he had any intercourse with, he 
had done it; that here they were not met, and if they had any- 
thing to say to the Indians, or the Indians to them, they might 
now speak to each other; that for his own part he had nothing 
to do but to sit and hear; he had already told the Governor of 
Pennsylvania the cause why he had struck him, and had con- 
cluded a peace with him, for himself and his people, and that 
every thing which could be done at present was concluded and 
agreed upon, in order to secure a lasting peace. With this he 
gave a string. 

Then Tagashta, the Seneca, arose and said. That he was 
very glad the Most High had brought them together with such 
good countenances ; but that the day was now far spent and that 
the business they were about was weighty and important; he 
therefore desired it might be deferred for the present and that 
he might be heard tomorrow morning early. On Thursday they 
met; the conference was at first interrupted by Teedyuscung 
coming in drunk, and demanding of the Governor a letter that 
the Alleghenians had sent by Pisquetumen. This letter contained 
the speech of the Alleghanians, in answer to the message de- 
livered to them by Frederic Post. The Indians entrusted Post 
with the carriage of it; but as he went from Shamokin to meet 
the General, he sent it down by the Indians, and some mistake 
inclosed it in a packet to Bethlehem; so that when the Indians 
came to Philadelphia and met the Governor, in order to deliver 
their speech and belts, they found they had none. This gave 
them great uneasiness, but the Governor informing them he ex- 
pected Post at the Treaty, they agreed to go up to Easton and 
wait his coming; and this they did the readier, as they had some 
messages for Teedyuscung. But now being informed that the 
Governor had received from Bethlehem the letter containing 
their speech, they desired Teedyuscung to request it of the Gov- 
ernor that it might be read, as they were eager to return, and a 
great deal depended on the answer they were to carry back. As 
Teedyuscung was too drunk to do business, Mr. Peters told him 
that the letter should be read at another time, and begged him 
to have a little patience. This bustle being over Tagashata arose 

[ 55 ] 



and spoke, approving what had been said by the Governor of the 
Jerseys, and declaring that the Minisinks had listened to the 
advice of the Senekas, and laid down the hatchet ; and that they, 
the Senekas, had also sent the same advice to the Delawares and 
Minisinks on the Ohio, and hoped they would regard it. After 
the Indians had finished their speeches, just as the Council was 
going to break up, Mr. Norris, Speaker of the Assembly, arose 
and claimed the ear of the Governors, letting them know that he 
understood reports were propogated among the Indians to his 
prejudice and that tended to raise uneasiness among them, and 
set them against the people of the Province. He then called upon 
Moses Tetamy, a noted Indian, to declare whether he had heard 
of any person spreading a report among them, the Indians, that 
he was concerned in the purchase of lands at or near Wyoming. 
Tetamy observed, that Teedyuscung was too drunk to enter upon 
that matter now. Mr. Norris then said, that as that was the case, 
and as he was obliged to go home tomorrow and could not attend 
another meeting, he took his opportunity, in the presence of both 
the Governors, and all the gentlemen present, to declare that he 
was neither directly nor indirectly engaged in the purchase of 
any lands at or near Wyoming; and that whoever asserted the 
contrary erred against truth ; and he desired Moses Tetamy 
would inform the Indians of this. 

This speech was levelled against G. Croghan who had been 
spreading some false reports among the Indians, and endeavor- 
ing to set Teedyuscung against the people of the Province. As 
Mr. Norris had no opportunity of canvassing the matter publicly, 
in order to know what Mr. Croghan had said, he next morning 
sent for Teedyuscung, who being asked what had passed between 
him and George Croghan respecting the Wyoming lands, de- 
clared. 

That in the beginning of this week, G. Croghan came to 
him and told him, that Isaac Norris and a Quaker who lived in 
Philadelphia, had been concerned with the New England people 
in purchasing the lands at Wyoming, and that they had paid the 
money for the said lands ; that though they endeavoured to make 
the Indians easy and satisfied about it, yet whenever the Indian 
claim to these lands was mentioned, they could not bear it, and 
were very uneasy about it; that the said G. Croghan desired 
him (Teedyuscung) to say nothing about the afifair to any body 
at this Treaty, and that if he did not, it was in the power of him 
the said George, who acted by virtue of a commission from Sir 
William Johnson, to set that affair right, and to settle the Indians 
on the said lands, notwithstanding what these purchasers could 
do. And Teedyuscung declared, that if this should prove true, 

[ 56 ] 



neither he nor any other Indians, would settle on these lands, but 
would resent the inquiry. 

It was evident from the countenance and favour Croghan 
met with that he did not act of himself in these his endeavours 
to embroil affairs among the Indians. 

On Friday, October 13, a conference was held at which the 
Governors spoke, and the Allegheny letter was read. At the 
close of the conference, one Nichos a Mohawk made a speech, 
which at Con. Wieser's particular request was not then inter- 
preted in public. The substance of the speech was to disclaim 
Teedyuscung's authority. This Nichos was G. Croghan's 
father-in-law, and him 'tis thought Croghan had made use of to 
raise disturbance among the Indians, as he found himself baffled 
in his other scheme. He could not prejudice Teedyuscung and 
set him against the people of the Province; he therefore now 
laboured to set the Indians against him by the same methods, 
that he attempted the former. 

On Sunday, October 15, there was a private conference at 
Scull's but neither Teedyuscung nor any of his people were 
there. Next day a conference was held in public at which were 
read the Minutes of what had passed : When they came to what 
was said the day before, they stopped; but at the request of the 
Six Nations' Chief it was read. What concerned Teedyuscung 
there, seemed little more than whether he should be considered 
as a King or an Emperor. They did not deny his power over 
liis own Nations, and he never claimed (except in his cups, if 
then) any authority over the Six Nations; and, as the Governor 
observed, he expressly declared they were his superiors, and that 
tho' he acted as a head for his own four Tribes, he acted as a 
messenger from his uncles. 

On Wednesday, October 8th, when the Six Nation Indians 
•came to return an answer, they gave a specimen of their finesse 
in politics. They were harassed with an Indian war; the Gov- 
ernor called upon them to declare the causes of it. The Chiefs 
disclaimed concern in it, and declared that it was not by the 
advice of consent of the public Council of the Nations, tho' they 
frankly owned some of their young men had been concerned in 
it. As counsellors they would not undertake^ to assign the causes 
of their uneasiness, or what had induced them to strike the Eng- 
lish, lest it should appear as if they had countenanced the war, 
or at least had not been at due pains to prevent it. They there- 
fore left the warriors to speak for themselves. The causes they 
assigned were the same that had been assigned before. The 
managers were very earnest to have the Six Nations' Speaker say 
lie spoke for the Delawares. However, Teedyuscung maintained 
his independence ; and as soon as Thomas King, head of the Six 

[ 57 ] 



Nations, sat down, he arose and said, that as his uncles had 
done, he would speak in behalf of his own people; and as his 
uncles had mentioned several causes of uneasiness, he would now 
mention one in behalf of the Opines, or Wapings, etc. This was 
found differently represented in printed Treaty; but as there 
are several other places liable to objections, if possible, one was 
to be secured with some notes. 

By Thomas King's speech, that what was conjectured in 
the enquiry relating to the purchase of 1754, was not groundless, 
and that that purchase was one main cause of the war. 

It was found that same effect might be attributed to different 
causes ; for the going away of the Six Nation Chiefs, which those 
not so clear-sighted as to discover the great dissatisfaction said 
to have been visible in the countenances of the Indians, attributed 
to the coldness of the day and the fatigue of long sitting, was 
in the printed Treaty ascribed to their aversion to Teedyuscung 
and disapprobation of what he had said. The next day the 
Munseys, dissatisfied with some part of the Six Nations conduct, 
demanded and received back the belt by which they had put them- 
selves and their affairs under their direction, and gave it to 
Teedyuscung. The close of the conference on Friday, October 
20th, was nothing but confusion. After the Governor had done, 
Nichos the Mohawk said the Governor left things in the dark; 
that neither he nor any of his Chiefs knew what lands he meant; 
if he spoke of the lands beyond the mountains, they had already 
confessed their having sold them ; but the Governor had their 
Deeds, Vv^hy were not these produced and shown to their cousins, 
the Delawares? Here C. Weiser went and brought the Deed of 
1749. Nichos acknowledged the Deed. It was shown to Teedy- 
uscung; but he could not readily be made to understand why it 
was now brought, all the matters relating to land being as he 
thought referred to the determination of the King of England. 
Governor Bernard of the Jerseys, who had something to say, had 
several times desired to be heard; but as the affair of the Deed 
so engrossed the attention of the Governor, his council, and 
interpreter, that no regard was paid to what Governor Bernard 
desired. In short their behavior on the occasion was very un- 
polite, that many could not help blushing for them. And at the 
last, the producing the Deed raised such a commotion among the 
Indians, that they broke up without giving Governor Bernard an 
opportunity to speak a word. 

Next day a private conference was held with the Chiefs of 
the Indians. As the people had given no thought to publishing 
it, the account cannot be proved accurate. 

Teedyuscung taking out a string of white and black wam- 
pum, told the Council and Commissioners (the Governor was not 

[ 58 ] 



there) that he had made enquiry concerning the Deed, produced' 
the day before, and was satisfied his uncles had sold the land' 
described therein; he saw likewise that Nutimus the Delaware 
Chief had signed the Deed, and found upon inquiry that he had 
received forty-four dollars, part of the consideration money. This 
being the case, he could make no dispute about the Deed, but was 
ready to confirm it; for he wanted to be with his brothers the 
English. But he observed, that his confirming that deed would 
not affect the claims he had formerly made; for thQ lands he 
thought himself principally wronged in, lay between Tohiccon 
and the Kittatinny Hills. On this he gave a string. After he 
had delivered the string Tokahayo, a Cayuga Chief, arose, and 
in a very warm speech commended the conduct of Teedyuscung, 
and at the same time severely reprehended that of the English. 
He told Teedyuscung, 'That he himself and the other Chiefs 
were obliged to him for his candour and openness; that they 
plainly perceived he spoke from the Heart, in the same manner- 
they used to do in ancient times, when they held Councils to- 
gether. They wished they could say as much of the English; 
but it was plain the English either did not understand Indian 
affairs, or else did not act and speak with that sincerity and in 
the manner they ought. When the Indians delivered belts, they 
were large and long; but when the English returned an answer 
or spoke, they did it on small belts and trifling little strings. 
(Among the Indians the size of the belts is always in proportion 
to their ideas of the greater or less impoitance of the matters 
treated of.) And yet the English made the wampum, whereas- 
the Indians were obliged to buy it. But the reason was, the 
Indians spoke from the heart, the English only from the mouth. 
Besides, how little the English attended to what was said ap- 
peared from this, that several of the belts and strings they (the 
Indians) had given them, were lost. If the English knew no 
better how to manage Indian affairs, they should not call them 
together. Here they had invited them down to brighten the chain 
of peace, but instead of that, had spent a fortnight, wrangling 
and disputing about lands. What must the people of Allegheny 
think of this conduct when they are informed of it by their- 
messengers ?' 

On Tuesday a public entertainment was given to the Indians, 
and in the evening the Chiefs were called together by R. Peters 
and C. Weiser. Hitherto the Indians, tho' several times pressed' 
to it, had deferred giving an answer to the proposal made on 
behalf of the proprietors to release back to the Indians the lands 
of the purchase of 1754, west of the Allegheny Mountains, pro- 
vided the Indians would confirm to them the residue of that pur- 
chase. But the Deeds being drawn up agreeable to what the Pro- 

[ 59 ] 



prietors proposed, it only remained to persuade the Indians to 
sign them as drawn. And that night, it was said, that it was 
■done. In public Council they declared they would confirm no 
more of that land than what was settled in the year 1754, for 
which only they had received the consideration; but ^11 the rest 
they reclaimed. Yet by the Deed as drawn, ten or even twenty 
times as much land was conveyed as was then settled. For the 
English settlements in 1754 extended but a little way up the 
Juniata and Sherman's Creek, whereas the new grant reached to 
the Allegheny Mountains. 

At the time much fear was entertained, that the Indians 
would disapprove, when they learned of the discrepancy, yet, as 
luck would have it, no dire results occurred. 

Charles Thompson was made an adopted son into the Dela- 
ware tribe of Indians at the treaty at Easton in 1756. He had 
been invited by sundry Friends, members of the Peace Associa- 
tion, to attend for them and take minutes in shorthand. It was 
the proper business of the Secretary of the Governor, the Rev- 
erend Richard Peters; but his minutes were so often disputed 
in the reading of them by the Chief Teedyuscung that Mr. 
Thompson's inofficial minutes were called for and they, in the 
opinion of the Indians were true. From their respect to this 
fact, they forthwith solemnly adopted him into their family 
under the appropriate name of "Wegh-wu-law-mo-end." It is 
not a little curious that this name in substance, became his usual 
appellation during the Revolutionary War; for as secretary of 
Congress, credence was given to his official reports which was 
always looked for to settle doubtful news and flying reports, say- 
ing on such occasions, "here comes the truth; here is Charles 
Thompson." 

■EXTRACT FROM LETTER OF ISRAEL PEMBERTON DATED DECEMBER 

II, 1758 

"At the late Treaty, Teedyuscung confirmed the Purchase 
of 1749; his Motives for this Confirmation were to engage the 
Six Nations to confirm the Wyoming Lands to him and his 
people; but such Measures were pursued by our Proprietary 
Managers, to prevent it and to set the Indians at variance with 
each other, that all our Arguments, Persuasions and Presents 
were scarce sufficient to keep them from an open Rupture. 

The Business was shamefully delayed from Day to Day, 
which the Minutes are calculated to screen ; but it is well known 
to us who attended, that the Time was spent in attempitng 
Teedyuscung's Downfall, and silencing or contradicting the 
Complaints he had made ; but he is really more of a Politician 
than any of his Opponents, whether in or out of our proprietary 
Council ; and if he could be kept sober, might probably soon be- 
come Emperor of all the neighboring Nations." 

[ 60 ] 



SECOND JOURNEY 

.SOUTHWARD ON SOUTH THIRD STREET 



'V-w-^E will now proceed on our second journey, which will 
r 1^ take us down South Third Street into Fishtown, a 
11/ section that represents one hundred and fifty years of 
^-*^ stunted growth and struggling efforts to keep pace 
with the rest of the town. 

Moving slowly, we note to the right the southwest corner 
of the Square and Third Street. The first person to take up 
this corner lot was Moritz Bishop, clock-maker." On it he erected 
a small building, which he, later, moved to one side Owing to 
impaired health, he sold the remainder of the corner lot to Henry 
Bush, who erected thereon a stone hotel, for many years after 
known as Widow Bush's Hotel. 

This old stone hotel was demolished in 1869, with all the 
other buildings that had been constructed there, from time to 
time, and the entire lot is now covered by the brick structure 
known as Porers Block. 

The next lot, where now stands the nine story building of 
the First National Bank, was originally purchased by William 
Craig. On it he built a hotel, and in partnership with John An- 
derson, secured one of the first licenses in the new county. The 
business, however, did not thrive as neither of them was a hotel 
man. Anderson was a promoter and speculator, with a hobby 
for laying out towns, none of which ever became more than 
paper plans. William Craig transformed his hotel into a store 
and later erected a stone dwelling at the southeast corner of 
Northampton and Sitgreaves streets.^ 

To the left, at the southeast corner of Pine Street stood the 
first jail. In it were incarcerated during the Pennamite War 
about fifty of what later became the leading citizens of Wyoming 
Valley. It was their school of instruction as well as dormitory, 
where they probably received their first lessons in discipline. This 
war was the struggle between Pennsylvania and Connecticut for 
the possession of that part of Northampton County bordering 
on the Susquehanna River, known as Wyoming. 

« Bishop carried on the business of clock-making until 1789 when he died at the age of 
33 years. During his spare moments, he constructed for himself a clock that displayed 
remarkable elaborateness of detail and which passed down several generations of the 
fami)y, and is today a highly prized curio of clock mechanism in one of the modern homes 
of A-llentown. 

' William Craig was instrumental in having the new county formed, and was one of 
the disgruntled purchasers to whom Parsons refers in his letter, regarding the day when 
lots were first sold. Craig's desire to select his lot below the Square was not granted by 
Parsons. 

[63] 




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TUESDAY, APRIL l8, I9II 

Easton today paid fitting homage to the survivors of that 
brave band of men v/ho marched from this town fifty years ago 
in answer to President Lincoln's memorable call for troops to 
defend their country and her flag. A royal welcome was given 
the gallant old veterans and their golden jubilee was a memor- 
able one. 

As upon the occasion when they left here as volunteers to 
participate in that great conflict, the exercises in honor of the 
heroes were held on South Third Street, but the crowds that 
assembled on that thoroughfare today were not as excited as 
those of half a century ago, for then Fort Sumter had been fired 
upon and there were fears for the nation's safety. As upon that 
occasion, the exercises were held in front of the building at the 
northeast corner of Third and Pine streets, then the residence of 
former Governor Andrew H. Reeder, and today the site of the 
Reeder building. It was Governor Reeder, who voicing the 
sentiments of the then residents of Easton, bade the troops God- 
Speed. Today his grandson, Frank Reeder, Jr., presided at the 
exercises arranged in honor of the survivors. 

The movement in honor of the First Survivors originated 
at a meeting of the Northampton County Historical and Gen- 
ealogical Society, when a committee was named to act in con- 




First Jail 



[ 65 ] 



junction with a similar committee from the Board of Trade. 
Although Civil War veterans joined in the celebration, it was 
mainly in the hands of the younger generation. The public 
schools were closed at 2 o'clock in order that the pupils could 
participate in the movement. In the procession that marched to 
the Reeder building were the Easton City Guard, the Spanish- 
American War Veterans, the High School and pupils of the other 
schools, the Newsboys' Association, the Newsboys' Fife and 
Drum Corps, the Boy Scouts and the members of Lafayette 
Post, No. 217, G. A. R. Throughout the entire city there was a 
general display of the national colors. 

The parade arriving in front of the Reeder building, the 
marchers were formed in a hollow square and Frank Reeder, Jr., 
a grand son of Governor Andrew Reeder, who addressed the 
the departing veterans April 18, 1861, at the same spot, acted as 
chairman and introduced James Simon, the historian, and T. 
McKeen Chidsey. The hollow square was formed by the City 
Guard facing north ; the G. A. R. line facing east,, and the High 
School pupils and Newsboys' Association facing west. The sur- 
vivors of the First Regiment were inside the square. 

James Simon, the youngest First Defender who shouldered 
a gun from Easton and a veteran of the Civil War from 1861 to 
1865, gave a history of the regiment, after which the orator of 
the day, T. McKeen Chidsey, addressed the assemblage conclud- 
ing as follows : 

"And right here from this very spot left those who were 
first to leap in defense of the flag, which was attacked in that 
great four year battle. 

Right here in our midst — in our very presence are some of 
those First Defenders to whom we owe so much, and to whom I 
now only too feebly express the thanks and appreciation of the 
present generation. 

Surrounded by conveniences and advantages undreamed of 
in '61 — living in a period of peace and quiet — unable to realize 
as they do, the sacrifices of those days, the agony of departure 
from home and friends, the terrible uncertainty of the future 
that faced them, we can only earnestly pray that we may profit 
by their example — that we may never lose by forgetfulness tlie 
stimulus of their ready response to the call of duty — that we 
may ever be possessed as they were inspired, with the ennobling 
love of patriotism and liberty." 

All of the surviving members of the four companies of the 
regiment recruited in Easton were present. They are as follows : 

[66 ] 




Bull's Head Hotel suul Jacob Yohe's Tap House (Photo 1««S) 



Company B.-Edwin B. Bleckley Lawrence Bitzer^ Levi 
Fraunfelter, Daniel F. Hineline, Max Wik and William H. Gm- 

Company C— John Bull, William Wolfram, John Wolfram, 
Tohn P Billings, John G. Snyder, Daniel Troxell, Richard Bit- 
ters W H Stults, Daniel Laubach, Matthew Kichlme, Higgms 
Lau'bach, Henry Huber, U. S. Wireback, William Kme, Joseph 
Vogel, John Broadback, Henry Miller, George Miller, George 
Friend, Joseph Roney and Charles Barnet. 

Company D.-George M. Oberly, Phillip Reichard Thomas 
P Ricketts, James Simon, J. Jacob Gangwere, Edward B. Gal- 
ligan, Silas Hulsizer, Augustus Stewart, Jacob A. Hawke and 
Samuel Adams. 

Company H.— August S. Heller, John L. Clinton, Charles 
A. Gosner, John H. Buck and Solon Philhpe. 

On the lot next to the jail was erected, in the year 1761, a 
stone hotel by Henry Rinker, and sold by the Sheriff m 1766 to 
Henry Kepple of Philadelphia, who in turn sold it to Jacob 
Meyer of Easton in 1774. Meyer immediately transferred 
to Conrad Ihrie, Senior, of Forks Township.' 

Conrad Ihrie, Senior, moved from his farm to this stone 
building which he converted into a hotel conducted by himself. 
He became a man of wealth and influence. In the year 1784 he 
sold the property to Peter Nungesser, a potter, from Raubsville, 
five miles down the river, who used the building for several years 
as a dvv^elling and then, converted it into a hotel which he named 
Bull's Head." ^ . ^ , 

Some years previous to this Conrad Ihrie, Senior, had pur- 
chased of Michael Hart, on the opposite side of the street, at 
the southwest corner of Pine, two lots now fully covered by the 
present Drake building and its annex. After disposing of his 
other property to Nungesser, he erected on these two lots the 
largest hotel structure in the town, known later as the American 
Hotel. The building reached from the corner of Pine to the 
private alley. Across the alley stood an old log house covered 
with red painted weather-boards. Into this Conrad Ihrie, Senior, 
moved after disposing of his large hotel to his son, Peter Ihrie. 
Peter in turn sold it to his son, Peter Ihrie, Junior. 

8 It was in this building that IvCvers hid the official papers, documents, and money 
belongiiTg to Congress, the State and the City of Philadelphia when the British occupied 
that city and which gave him so much concern in 1778 when he was notified by Conrad 
Ihre to vacate, to make room for his new son-in-law John Arndt. But John didn t go to 
TTastoti his father Jacob Arndt, having deeded over to him the mill property (now the old 
m!f/a?BushkmPar^kh where he remafned during the entire period of the Revolu^ona'-y 
War. The Arndt and Ihrie families were near neighbors on the Bushkill. V^»e owned a 
farm of a hundred and fifty acres, on both sides of the ^reek, in the vicinity of Kemmei^^^^^^ 
Island Ihrie, however, insisted on I^evers moving away, and threatened to resort to torce 
if he did not vacate; Levers, not being able to find a vacant house in the town, made a 
temporary residence in lyancaster, but soon returned to Easton. 

[ 67 ] 



Conrad Ihrie, Senior, in time secured title to the other two 
lots, thereby becoming the owner of the entire block with a front- 
age from Pine to Ferry. These two lots were originally pur- 
chased by Colonel Isaac Sidman, on which, near the corner of 
Ferry, he erected about the year 1789 a frame building that is 
still standing. In it he conducted a hotel and later a general 
store until 1785 when he removed to Philadelphia, selling the 
property to Conrad Ihrie, Junior, who, a few years later, re- 
linquished title in favor of his father, Conrad, Senior, who di- 
vided the block into three equal parts. To Peter his son was 
given the hotel portion, to another son, Benjamin, the middle 
part, and to John Arndt, his son-in-law, that bordering on Ferry 
Street. Arndt shortly after the close of the Revolutionary War 
moved to Easton, making his home in the house formerly owned 
by Sidman, and later erected one on the corner, to which he 
removed and where he lived to the end of his days. 

Conrad Ihrie, Junior, in the year 1782 transferred the Bush- 
kill Farm back to the Penns, moved to Easton, and purchased a 
stone hotel of John Schook, on the north side of Northampton 
Street. This was the Jeremiah Trexler building in which he 
conducted a general merchandise business from 1754 to 1779. 
Ihrie continued this as a hotel imtil he was elected County 
Treasurer, and later became a land speculator as did also his 
brother. The Ihries, during the Revolutionary War, accumulated 
considerable money, which they used to great advantage in pur- 
chasing property, following that event when values had shrunken 
to a minimum, and disposing of it at a maximum profit, thereby 
increasing their wealth manifold. Unfortunately this wealth and 
the family influence disappeared with the advent of the genera- 
tions which followed. 

Next to Nungesser's Bull's Head Hotel was a building 
owned and conducted by Jacob Yohe, son of Adam, called a hotel 
but which was only a tap-house. Next to this was the home of 
Frederick Gwinner. On the lot on the corner of Ferry, pur- 
chased by him about 1785, Henry Bush built a house, which he 
sold a year later to Jacob Sigman, a shoemaker. In the year 
1847 this building was removed and in its place was erected Odd 
Fellows Hall, later known as Masonic Hall, for many years the 
only public hall in the town.^ 

On the southeast corner of Ferry was the property of John 
Titus, a cabinet maker. His establishment had a fronting on 
Ferry Street, a short distance from Third. 



* In its corner stoue, among' other things, was deposited the first copy of the first 
newspaper published in California. The publisher of it was John Bachman, a printer at 
that time living in California, a son of Sheriff John Bachman, a politician. 

[ 68 ] 




• ^f-n ^ _rK i y c. yyC ^,^ 



t. [-.'./- L 



/ A .y.c 



Draug-ht of the Moravian House 




David Martin Ferry House, 1739 (Photo 1911) 



In the southwest corner were two lots selected for the Mora- 
vians of Bethlehem, by Timothy Horsefield, Esq., June 1752. 
Formalities v/ere entered into by John Okley, March 7, 1757. 
This transaction also included a triangular lot on the Lehigh 
River, bounded by the river. Third and Lehigh streets and is 
now used as a coal-yard. 

Early in the year 1761 the Moravians began a building to 
be used for quartering some of their single men and itinerant 
preachers. According to the plans the upper floor was to be a 
hall for preaching, the first floor was to be used for the living 
apartments, while the garret was for sleeping purposes. While 
the building was being constructed, negotiations were begun m 
Europe for the purpose of terminating the Mroavian economy 
as it then existed and effecting a new organization, which would 
have commercial standing and legal recognition. The new or- 
ganization was to take effect on January i, 1762, and up to this 
period there had been expended on this new building 341 pounds, 
16 shillings and 11 pence. March 3, 1762, John Okely passed 
title to these three parcels of land to Bishop Nathanal Seidel m 
whose name all Moravian property was being vested. 

The records of the Bethlehem Moravians show that the two 
lots and the building were sold under date of April 18, 1763, to 
the Easton Lutheran Church wardens, Adam Yohe, Conrad 
Streuber, Abraham Berlin and Valentine Opp, for 400 pounds. 
Entry of March 16, 1765, shows that the church wardens paid 
in full. This transaction did not include the triangular lot at the 
Lehigh. The Record of Deeds at the Court House show that 
Bishop Seidel sold under date March 11, 1765, to Conrad 
Streuber of Lehigh Township, a tanner, in fee for 400 pounds. 
Nothing is said in this transfer about the Lutheran congregation 
or any body connected with it. Streuber was a wealthy tanner 
and evidently purchased this property for his town residence, 
wherein he died on September 2nd, 1765. Less than 2 months 
after his decease, on October 20th, the widow sold the property 
to David Barringer, a shopkeeper. This last transfer is in fee 
simple and with no reference whatever to the Lutheran congre- 
gation, which is conclusive evidence that if the Lutheran church 
wardens v/ere really interested in its purchase in 1763, they 
must have relinquished all claim before 1765. And it is safe to 
presume that they were not the purchasers in 1763. 

It is difficult to advance any reason why they would desire 
ownership of this property or even the use of it, as they were 
part owners of the log school building on the church lot, corner 
of Third and Church streets. Their objection to this log building 
was as a school and not as a place for holdnig church services. 
The Moravians used their building, after it was completed, for 

[ 69 ] 



church services, and they may have continued these services until 
the transfer in 1765 or possibly only until the year 1763, the date 
claimed for the Lutheran purchase. The Moravians furnished 
itinerant preachers for any denomination, English or German. 
Possibly the Lutherans did hold services on or about 1763, tak- 
ing advantage both of the place of meeting and the Moravian 
clergymen, and thereby permitting the Reformed to occupy the 
old log school. Negotiations may have been entered into with a 
view of disposing of this property to the Lutherans as David 
Barringer informed Muhlenburg that the Lutherans of Easton 
were forming a congregation and intended purchasing the Mo- 
ravian building. But whether they succeeded in doing so is not 
yet made clear. 

The original draft of this building and the information of 
its transfer by the Moravians to subsequent purchasers, is on 
record at the Pennsylvania Historical Society among sundry 
papers originally belonging to the Moravian Church. The draft 
shows the building as facing the east, but the structure itself 
faced the north. In a painting made prior to its being incor- 
porated into a hotel by Abraham Bachman, are shown windows 
in the gable end but none on the roof. Bachman made but few 
changes in the original structure when making it a part of his 
hotel. In fact, the hotel proper was a new construction and the 
Moravian building formed only a wing. 

The writer has a vivid recollection of this old wing and for 
upwards of ten years lived on the adjoining property and was 
present when the structure was demolished. 

Johan David Boehringer and wife Gertrude were of the 
"Sea" congregation of the Moravians and arrived in America in 
1743. They withdrew from the Moravian Economy of Nazareth 
in 1745, and removed to Saucon Township, into a house on the 
south side of the Lehigh, opposite Bethlehem, where he became 
a shoemaker.^° 

Boehringer evindently became a past master of the art as we 
find him endeavoring to establish a permanent location for him- 
self, where it was necessary for those desiring his services to 
take the work to him. In connection therewith he began what 
may be called a reformatory for naughty boys and to which he 
later added the business of making fur hats from the skins of 
rabbits. Possibly he utilized the spare time of his pupils in 
corralling the cottontail bunnies in the surrounding mountains. 



'° This vocation in those days included the education of the customers' children. 
These educated shoemakers itinerated from house to house and as these numbers were 
limited their time was fully occupied. They would establish themselves in a convenient 
part of the building and impart instructions to the children until such time as the repair- 
of all the foot-wear of the family was completed. There were certain fixed charges for the 
labor and which always included the fixed board and lodging of the all important peda- 
gogical cobbler. 

[ 70 ] 



He removed from the south side of the Lehigh to Upper Milford 
Township where he remained until the year 1757, when he 
moved to Easton and purchased a lot with a building on it from 
John Graff, on the northwest corner of Fourth and Ferry streets, 
now the site of Christ Lutheran church. Here he conducted the 
business of general merchandise. He lost this property through 
Sheriff sale in 1782. Boehringer used the Moravian building as 
a store and residence from 1765 to 1773, when through an en- 
dorsement for John Rush, on the south of the Lehigh he became 
involved and the Sheriff, in 1773 sold the property to Frederick 
Nungesser, who transferred the business to Boehringer's clerk, 
Isaac Sidman, at that time a young man from Philadelphia. Sid- 
man married a daughter of Frederick Nungesser April 8, 1774. 
Nungesser died May 3, 1774, and then his widow occupied the 
building as a residence. Sidman later became one of the most 
popular young men in the town. Early in 1776 he purchased the 
two lots on the northwest corner of Ferry and Third streets, 
erected a hotel on the second lot, was elected Colonel of the First 
Regiment of the Militia in that year, which caused a great con- 
troversy owing to his youthful appearance. Colenel Sidman a 
few years later relinquished the hotel business and converted the 
building, on his new lot, into a store in which he conducted a 
mercantile business, but five years later he disposed of this 
property and moved to Philadelphia. Then about the year 1785, 
when the division of the estate of his late father-in-law, Freder- 
ick Nungesser, was taking place, he returned to Easton and built 
the stone structure at the southwest corner of Northampton 
Street and Centre Square, where he became the leading merchant 
in the town. This lot on which the store was erected was the 
portion of the estate acquired by his wife, and extended back to 
Bank Street. The next lot to it, facing the square, was the 
portion allotted to George Nungesser, the oldest son. On it was 
the original hotel of his father. Here George conducted the 
business for many years. Colonel Isaac Sidman was a progres- 
sive man and was instrumental in having the_ first sidewalk laid 
in the town, tljis was in front of his property. He finally disposed 
of his mercantile business to his clerks, Titus and Innes, and 
moved to Philadelphia, but again returned to Easton where he 
died August 28, 1807. 

In the division of the Nungesser estate, the two Moravian 
lots were divided into three parcels. That portion bordering on 
the corner of Ferry was given to Catherine, the eldest daughter, 
the wife of Abraham Bachman, Justice of the Peace of Lower 
Saucon Township. The middle portion, containing the old Mo- 
ravian building, fell to the lot of the widow, where she resided 
with another daughter, Rachel Smith. The third portion became 

[ 71 1 



vested in John Nungesser, second son. Abraham Bachman built 
the frame house, still standing, at the corner of Ferry, for a 
residence and which he finally sold to Moses Davis, together with 
the lot extending along Ferry as far as the present Sunday Call 
building. In the year 1803 Bachman purchased the other two 
portions from the heirs, erected a small frame building, still 
standing on the south corner of the private alley. To this the 
widow Nungesser removed after vacating the Moravian building. 
Bachman in 1805 erected a hotel in front of the old Moravian 
building, used the second floor of the old structure as a dining 
room. The main floor of the new portion was elevated forming 
a very commodious portico which was open across the entire 
front. Bachman gave it the name of "Washington Hotel." He 
also sold the rear portion of the two lots to Peter Miller, the 
famous Easton philanthropist and merchant, who constructed 
thereon his row of brick homes for aged and infirm widows. The 
building was two and a half stories high with a shingle roof. 
This roof, about the year i860, was destroyed by fire, having 
become ignited through sparks from a conflagration that con- 
sumed the hotel stables in the rear. The building was repaired 
and is now the row of brick residences standing at the corner 
of Bank and Ferry streets. 

Bachman on May loth, 1815, sold his hotel property to John 
Brotzman for $2400. John, about this time, acquired quite a 
fortune, was a good Democrat, aspired to Democratic honors 
which even at that early day were expensive luxuries, became the 
executive of the then rapidly growing town, and in his eft'orts 
to reach still higher, became financially involved and the Penn- 
sylvania Bank closed in on their claim for $13,000 and the Sheriff 
on August i6th, 1819, sold the hotel as one portion for $4645 to 
the Bank, who in turn sold it on April 20th, 1826, to Jacob Abel 
for $7540. Abel conducted the hotel until April 6th, 1839, when 
he sold it to John Bachman of Lower Saucon Township for 
$7500. John was also a good Democrat and well equipped with 
Lower Saucon specie. However, about this time, the Democratic 
party had increased jn number and their requirements likewise 
inclined upward. This John did not rise to be greater than 
Sheriff, before he was compelled to relinquish his hotel, selling 
it to Anthony Transue, his brother-in-law of Bushkill Township, 
in 1847, for $8,300. Transue conducted the hotel only a few 
years, then leased it to Peter Bellis, who there held forth until 
the year 1861 when Transue sold the property to Feredick Lerch 
for $8,000. Lerch converted it into a carriage factory, enclosed 
the commodious front porch and utilized it as a wareroom in 
which to display his vehicles. In the bed chambers he lodged his 
employees and the old Moravian building he retained as the 

[ 72 ] 





Residence of John Arndt (Photo 1911) 



Residence of Abraham Bachman 




Ruins of the Old Glendon Iron Works 



dining room. The stables were converted into the factory proper, 
and the bar-room in the front basement into offices. Lerch re- 
liquished the carriage business in January of the year 1870 and 
sold the property to H. G. Tombler, wholesale grocer, for 
$iSOOO, who transformed it again into a hotel gave it the title 
of "Merchants' Hotel" and leased it to Michael Buck, who was 
the landlord until 1873 when Tombler sold the property above 
the alley to P. F. Stier, Conrad Killian and Lewis Roesch, who 
in turn removed all the old buildings with the exception of the 
stables on the rear end, and the small frame structure which was 
below the alley and not included in the sale. These gentlemen 
erected the three modern brick structures that are there today. 

East of Third Street no buildings were constructed until 
after the War of 1812. This portion of the town was an im- 
mense plaza and an unobstructed view of the two rivers was had 
from this corner (Third and Ferry streets). Our story will now 
revert to a period when preparations were being made to establish 
Thomas Penn's long contemplated town. This was about the 
year 1750. What is now known as the South Side, with lands 
lying adjacent thereto, forming a level plateau a mile m width, 
extending several miles from the Delaware River westwardly 
along the Lehigh, and bordered by the Lehigh Hills or South 
Mountains, was thickly settled many years before Easton was 
laid out. The inhabitants of this vast tract of ground were fully 
aware of its advantages as a town site, but at the present we are 
interested only in those citizens whose properties bordered on the 
two rivers. On the Delaware side there were three tracts, ihe 
lower was that of Balser Hess, who built his house m 1746. _ it 
stood to the left of the lane leading into the city incinerating 
plant and was demolished in 1906. Next was the property of 
Anthony Albright. His log house stood on the foundation of 
the present frame building, on the south corner of Nesquehomng 
Street and the Delaware road.^^ 

Next to this, and forming the corner at the confluence ot 
the two rivers, was the Ferry tract of David Martin. Here in 
1739 he erected the stone structure, still standing, m what is 
now Snufftown. This tract reached to about where the Lehigh 
Valley Station now stands. From this point, up the Lehigh to 
about where the bridge of the Eastern and Northern Railroad 
crosses the Lehigh, was the portion secured by Lawrence 
Merkle.^^ 

" Anthony took up this tract about 1748, prior .to which he li;;fj;i„the vicinity of 
Bethlehem, much to the annoyance of the Moravian brethren, for whom he acted as 
constable. , „^ . , .. 

'= I^awrence had his home in a log structure still standing on Canal Street, where it 
intersects the small thorougfare known as Huntington Street, "? jjl^f .>^^^f"f ^f i^fP elt 
town " The building, in time, became also a Ferry House. The chief P°^^^°JJ^^^^^};1 
concerning ttis structure, was centered in the fact that within its walls was begun what 
is now Lafayette College. 

- [73] 



Next to Merkle was the property of John Rush which 
reached as far west as the present boundary between the South 
Side and Glendon. Rush's home was a log structure and stood 
until 1874, surrounded by the buildings of the present Lehigh 
Valley Railroad shops. 

David Martin had, in the year 1739, received rights for a 
ferry across the Delaware River, extending from Marble Hill to 
Tinicum Island, down the river. [This must have been Richard's 
Island or the next one, which was two miles further down, as 
below this was within the rights of Peter Raub who conducted 
a ferry at the mouth of the Po-pohatcong Creek, many years 
before David Martin made his appearance at the Forks. The 
word "Tinicum" is an English corrutped form of a term, which 
in the language of the Minnisink Indians means "Island."] 
Martin acquired land on the Jersey side, reaching from the 
present railroad bridge northward to about where now is the 
road, leading from North Main Street under the railroad, to the 
Delaware, and extending northeastwardly over the hills to cer- 
tain points. The land next to Martin, and reaching as far as 
Marble Hill, was owned by a Mr. Turner of Philadelphia. Above 
this was the extensive place of John Anderson, who lived at what 
is now Harmony, while back of all these was the tract of John 
Cox. 

Before Martin's time there were two roads leading across 
Jersey to Raub's Ferry. One from Brunswick and the other 
from South Jersey and Trenton. These two roads converged 
near the ferry and later, vv^hen Martin began his ferry at the 
Forks, these two were formed as one road leading into what is 
now Phillipsburg and continuing as what is now Main street^ 
thence following more in line with what is now Mercer Street^ 
passing the present Lehigh Valley Freight Station and through 
the little hamlet then known as Phillipsburg. The road led from 
here to the ferry, over a course of what later became the inclined 
plane of the Morris Canal, under the present railroad bridges. 
The landing place was directly opposite the mouth of the Lehigh, 
and here another road led to the northward, on a slight incline 
and continuing up what is now North Main Street. All traces of 
this road were obliterated at the time the Delaware Bridge was 
constructed, which elevated the ground on the Jersey side to such 
a height that it became what is now Union Square. The ferry 
landing on the Pennsylvania side was on a long point of land 
projecting from the south side of the Lehigh. This point of 
land was formed through the peculiar manner in which the water 
of the Lehigh, flowing northeastwardly into that of the Delaware 
coming from the opposite direction. This peculiarity is still 
in evidence, even after all the improvements that have taken 

[ 74 ] 




Street Scene in Old San Domingo and Last Log House on San Domingo Street (Photo 1911) 




A Section of the Old Delaware Ferry Road ahout 1860 in Rear of Brewery 



place at the confluence of these two rivers. It made a very con:- 
venient place for the landing of the ferry. The road led from, 
this point, following the present Delaware Canal bed to a short 
distance below the present railroad bridge, thence at right angles 
up the hillside at what is now the north end of the Brewery (the 
large brick chimney of the brewery now stands in the middle of 
this ancient road). After winding to the top of the hill, it led in 
a southwesterly direction to the vicinity of Berwick Street and; 
Seitz Avenue, thence to the corner of the Hellertown Road and 
Line Street, South Side. In 1745 David Martin petitioned for Si. 
road to Bethlehem on the north side of the Lehigh, but was ad- 
vised that the road on the south side was sufficient. The road 
on the south side, referred to, was what is now known as the 
Hellertown Road and was the principal highway from the Forks 
of the Delaware, following the Lehigh Mountains in a south- 
westerly direction to the Susquehanna. The Forks country was 
now rapidly filling up with settlers and traffic over the ferry was 
on an increase, and about the year 1747, David Martin passed tO' 
the Great Beyond and the ferry was afterward conducted by his^ 
heirs. 

Dr. Thomas Greame of Philadelphia, the most intimate 
friend of Thom-as Penn, a man of wealth whose property ad- 
joined that of Thomas Penn, made a trip to the Forks of the 
Delaware to ascertain what the prospects were for starting a 
town. After his return to Phildalphia, he wrote a letter to Penu 
under date of September 18, 1750, of which the following is only 
an extract, and the first iew lines of which fully set forth the 
character of Thomas Penn — living in England, having abandoned 
his American residences, — declining to favor his best friend and 
neighbor, who desired a strip of land which was of no use or 
benefit whatever to himself. 

greame's letter to penn 

" as it does not suit you to part with the land 

I made proposals concerning my last I am perfectly easy. Only 
as it was adjoining mine it gave me some taste for it. But I 
observe Sir, by the few hints I gave you in my last, that you are 
sufficiently disposed to have a town layed out on your thousand 
acres in the Forks. On having what I wrote properly bounded 
by Mr. Peters for which purpose I thought the best thing I 
could doe, was to sett forth the grounds I went upon in reason at 
full length, then submit them to Mr. Peters' examination, and 
then transmit them to you Sir. 

Accordingly they are here enclosed and I think have met 
with Mr. Peters' full approbation, which I am to suppose he at 
this time or before writes to you. Besides him I only showed 

[ 75 ] 



them to Nicholas Scull who was also pleased to say, you would 
find everything therein advanced to be matters of fact. The 
reason I have been so reserved in showing them to any body 
else first, there was no occasion for others to know on what 
motives you proceded, but my chief and main objection, was, lest 
some interested person should draw such a conclusion from them 
as I have myself, that is by considering what is advanced they 
would soon see the great convenience and advantage of the town 
as there mentioned, but at the same time by inference might con- 
clude that a town over against the ForJcs point in the Jerseys 
would likewise answer for by that one argument tha tnow exists 
viz, that the produce of the Forks is carryd over att the Ferry in 
order to be carryd through the Jersey to Brunswick for a market 
(which indeed is a monstrous oversight), might easily lead them 
into the reflection of the expediency of a town on tother side. 

Now the owners of the lands on the Jersey side are Mr. 
John Cox, Mr. Martin who has the ferry, and Messrs. Allen and 
Turner, the latter two by a late purchase of ten thousand acres, 
owned near so many miles on the River immediately adjoining 
the others ; and, if they should take the hint of the advantage of 
a town for the advancement of their own land, don't know but 
they might sett about it. This being an after reflection of my 
own, and the arguments used in the enclosed paper standing 
strong and clear enough without it. I chuse only to communicate 
this to you, without the participation of any mortal else. It is 
therefore my opinion the sooner you give directions in this affair 
the better, for by observation when a town is laid out before the 
county established there happens little or no dispute amongst the 
body of the people about it, but when it is otherwise tho' they 
have no right or claim to the location of such town. Yet they 
still made a deal of warngling about it " 

■Treasons for erecting at this time a town in the forks of 
the delaware on the looo acres reserved by the honor- 
able proprietary for that purpose, being the point 
where two branches meet. 

It is very well known that the North Branch from its Rocki- 
ness and Rapidity admits of little or no Navigation and generally 
attended withe Great Danger to those who attempt it. Either in 
Cannoes or Flatt Bottomed Boats, and the West Branch so shal- 
low, with a fall a few miles above its Entrance into the River, 
that the same objection lys against it as the other in regard to 
navigation. Consequently, The first and only Place suited for 
Trade and Commerce is att the Confluence of the two Branches 
where the Water is deep and smooth, and continues so, except 
in tow or three places at most, there is a small abstruction which 

[ 7^ ] 



with a moderate Fresh are safley got over till you arrive at 
Philadelphia, this being established that there is no other point 
of Land higher up on either Branch that can ansvN^er the ends 
of Trade till you arrive there. It is next to be considered that, 
from this point of Land, at a distance of 70 or 80 miles to the 
Norward and Eastward, and at the like distance to the Norward 
and Westward, are many settled inhabitants and daily more 
settling, these for the reasons aforesaid can have no Place of 
Trade and Navigation till they come hither, the natural Effort of 
this will be that they will want a market place there, and for the 
same there will be Merchants, Purchasers of the Produce, who 
will be Provided with such Vessels & Craft as shall suit the Navi- 
gation of the River to Philadelphia and being always on the spott 
will be ready to lay hold on every favorable opportunity that; 
may present for the said Navigation. 

An other consequence that the situation intended will pro- 
duce, is by the first obstruction from below this to Philadelphia,, 
being about 20 or 25 miles distant, those within that compass 
and not far Remote from the Rivers, having the Navigation at 
all times free and open, will with more convenience to themselves 
chuse the Forks Point for a Marcat rather than goe any wheres 
else. 

Yet this is not all, but when rightly considered, that at this, 
time there are two large wagon roads, that pass thro the Jer- 
seys, the one from Brunswick, the other from Trenton, Each 
about 50 miles distant and Both terminate at the Ferry, over 
against the Forks, the purpose and use of these roads is not only 
to carry the Jersey produce on that side the River, but the daily 
practise is to carry the flour made in the Forks, over this Ferry 
and then by wagon carrige chiefly to Brunswick, it being of the 
two the Better Road, from whence it is plain and obvious what 
a share of Trade on the other side of the River vntouM turn this, 
way, would there be found a Marcat there and proper Vessels 
ready to carry the Produce to Philadelphia. Thus the Forks 
point would necessarily become the place of Trade not only for 
the Inhabitants therein and all above them, and for 20 miles be- 
low them, but for all that point of the Jerseys, that lys over 
against them which is extent upon the River, is above a 100 
miles now settled. 

Now the only objection that bears any color to the contrary 
of what has been advanced, is respecting its being the Seat of 
Justice as not being Central enough to all the inhabitants, tho 
what has been said allready, might be a sufficient answer where 
so many advantages no where else to be had, ought to counter- 
vail, one is convenience, yet this attended to will vanish as an 
argument against us. 

[ T? ] 



Who ever has taken notice or knows the Georgraphy of this 
Country will soon see & discover, that by the situation of the 
Forks and increase of its inhabitants both on this and the other 
side of the moutains, that tho when this part of the Province 
'Comes to be erected into a County it may be thought fit by the 
Legislature for the present to extend it to all the back inhabitants, 
yet in the space of but a few years, there will be wanting a fur- 
ther division of Countys, and that this will be limited to the 
Second Range of mountains, when this comes to be the case as 
.apparently it will be in some short time, the remotest of the 
inhabitants will not be above 40 miles to the Seat of Justice a 
■distance not to be complained of in this Country. 

But lastly to strengthen the foregoing argument there is a 
'Circumstance attending the Forks which incapacitates it for a 
town of any consequence except the place mentioned. It say its 
to be maintained that there is no place within the Forks that can 
be pitched upon that will afford timber sufficient for erecting a 
Town or even for wood for its inhabitants wthout the assistance 
•of Navigation, which has been shown allready to be very de- 
ficient or next to impracticable in that respect. Indeed the place 
mentioned with so many advantages would be altogether fruitless 
were it to depend on its own timber or any within the Forks, 
without the assistance of Navigation. 

Thomas Greame. 
Phila. Sept. loth, 1750.' 

In answer to this Thomas Penn appointed Greame a com- 
-missioner for locating the new town and on July 28th, 1751, Dr. 
■Greame and Nicholas Scull, Surveyor General, accompanied by 
John Okley of Bethlehem, arrived at the Forks for the purpose 
of making a draft of the proposed town to be submitted to 
Thomas Penn for his information and inspection. 

While these preliminaries were taking place the inhabitants 
along the Lehigh were petitionting the Assembly for a new 
county. Their first efforts to this end was the presentation of 
their request at a meeting of this body, March 11, 1751. March 
II, 1752, the Governor signed the bill establishing the new county. 

Under date of February 20th, 1752, Nicholas Scull wrote to 
William Parsons, who was then living in Lancaster County, 
where he, — as one of the executors of Lynford Lardner — was 
making settlement of the Lardner estate in that district. In his 
letter he states that there is considerable talk regarding the offices 
of the new county. 

"We have various conjectures about the officers, particularly 
that of Prothonotary. Your name is often mentioned among 
"Others but as I have not seen the Secretary for more than a week, 

[ 78 ] 



I can give no certain account how these affairs are to be settled; 
but, this I am certain of, viz. that Mr. Peters will leave no stone 
unturned to serve you." 

Peters was successful in having Parsons appointed and on 
March 7th, William Parsons and Nicholas Scull started for the 
Forks to open the streets of the new town. They arrived at the 
Ferry in the evening, where they lodged with John Lefever, who 
was conducting the Ferry in the interest of the heirs of the late 
David Martin, and living in Martin's stone Ferry house where 
he was a licensed hotel keeper. Parsons made this his home until 
his house, on the corner of Fourth and Northampton streets, was 
completed. John Lefever, recognizing the fact that ther.e would 
be some changes taking place in the great highways after the 
building of the new town, and desiring to have a public house 
along the principal road, located by warrant in June 1752 a tract 
of land along the Minnisink trail, whereon he built the stone 
house, still standing along what is now the main road, a short 
distance south of Fork's Church near Tatamy. And here in 1753 
he presented the following petition to the Courts for a license, 
which was granted. 

"To the wroshippel the justices of the quarter sessions of 
the peace held at Easton for the County of Northampton for the 

19th day of June 1753 the petition of humbly show- 

eth that your petitioner's dwelling-house is well situated for the 
entertainment of travelers in forks of Delaware Township, in 
this County, and your petitioner having heretofore been licensed 
to keep a house of public entertainment, therefore humbly pray 
that your worship will be pleased to grant him your recommenda- 
tion to his honor the Governor for his license to keep a public 
tavern at his dwelling house aforesaid, and your petitioner as in 
duty bound shall ever pray. John Lefever." 

The following expense account of William Parsons is of 
sufficient interest to be here quoted. 
May II, 1752. 

Received of Richard Paters seven pounds towards defraying 
the charges of opening the streets of Easton, 

7.0.0 
and per John Jones 23.0.0 

and in Philadelphia 20.0.0 



£ 50 . o. o 

Account of wages .paid workmen for clearing the streets in 
Easton at 3 shilhngs per day, they find themselves 

May 7, 1752, left Phila. Pa. in company with Nicholas 
Schull. 

[ 79 ] 



Expense at Abington o. 3.0 

at the Biller 0.14.0 

at Alex Poe's o. 8.0 

at Durham o. 4.0 
at Ye Ferry 

at John Lefever's ~ 2. 2.0 

After Mr. Scull left me 1.12.0 



May 14 paid Jacob Bess three and one half days 0.10.6 

May 18 George Reimell o.io.o 

May 18 Christian Moller o.ii.o 

May 21 Adam Margell — Two and one-half days o. 7.0 

George Reimell — Five days 5.0 

Philip Reimell— Three days 9.0 

William IMarks — Three days 9.0 

Albert Valtin — Six and one-half days *• 

Conrad Valtin — Four days 12.0 

Melchoir Young — Four days 12.0 

Elias Dietrich — Three days o. 9.0 

Sebastian Kieser — Two days o. 6.0 

Peter Best — Two days o. 6.0 

Jacob Koch — Five days 0.15.0 

Bernhard Walter — Three days o. 9.0 

Michael Blass — Three days o. 9.0 

Conrad Menger — Three days o. 9.0 

Christian Piper — Eight days i. 4.0 

Philip Piper — Six days -o.iS.O 

Jacob Nierpas — Five and one-half days 0.16.0 

Garret Snyder — Three and one-half days o.io.o 

Christian Miller — Two days 0.10.6 

Peter Hess — Seven and one-half days i. 2.6 

Henry Hess — Five days 0.15.0 

George Koon — Eight days i. 4.0 

Anto. Ezer — Six and one-half days 0.19.6 

]\Ielcher Hoy — Six and one-half days 0.19.6 

William Fulbert — Eight days i. 4.0 

Philip Reimell — One day o. 3.0 

George Reimell — per S. W. — One day o. 3.0 

Isaac Lefever — One and one-half days o. 4.6 

George Stongell — Seven days i . i . o 

Jacob Cough, for boards 2. 2.0 
Paid Peterson for going express to Messrs. 

Brodhead, Dupui, and \^an Aten o. 5.0 
Paid John Chapman on acct. running the county 

line 10. 0.0 

23.18.0 

[80 ] 



June 15, John McMichael, wood cutter on acct. boards 10. 0.0 
June 15, Melcher Young 00. 5.0 

June 25, Anto Ezer 2.15.0 

Aug. 13, E. Sawyer for boards 4- 6.0 

Aug. 15, Anto Ezer 5- 8.0 

Paid John Finley, mason on acct. by order of ye trustees 5. 8.0 

Aug. 18, John Chapman for boards 3- 4-0 

Aug. 20, Geo. and Michael Reimell for raising the house 6. 12.0 

The advantages of Easton as a probable port of commerce 
was readily seen by those interested in mercantile traffic and the 
projectors of the town reserved the water front for future reve- 
nue purposes. Regardless of the antipathy that Parsons held 
toward the Moravian Brethren, he was compelled to survey for 
them as he says, "for the use of the Honorable Proprietary, in- 
order to agree with the Brethren of Bethlehem for the same, who 
desire to have it granted them for a landing place," and the 
privileges was also included to construct a wharf 40 feet into the 
river. The lot was quite extensive for that period and must 
have been selected with a view to the future. The frontage on 
the river was 404 feet and on Third Street from the present: 
bridge 336 feet to Lehigh Street, thence down that street 225, 
fee to the river.^^ 

The river front above the bridge was reserved for the new 
Ferry, which had its landing on the north, side of the river at 
the foot of Fourth Street, and which, consequently, made Fourth 
Street the principal thoroughfare in the new town. This ferry 
was an institution of Parson's creation. It was also about this 
time that the two brick warehouses were constructed. These two 
buildings, during the Revolutionary War, were used by the Gov- 
ernment for storage purposes, Easton having been one of the 
pirncipal depots in the Commissary Department. During the 
period of the Revolution, there were stored in these buildings, at 
one time, 4000 barrels of flour, besides immense quantites of 
other goods. As the years passed, this river front became the 
principal wharfage in the town and the entire section, bounded 
by Third, Lehigh and Fourth streets, was principally devoted to 
the transportation business, when it became known as San 
Domingo. From 1790 to 1805, this district as a shipping centre,, 
had reached its highest point. 

' = Beyond a doubt the Moravian economy intended doing an extensive shipping trade; 
through a line of Durham boats on the Delaware River. Nazareth, their principal source 
of production was only 7 miles distant making a short haul by wagon. Bethlehem was 
was accessible by water, but they maintained an overland wagon service to Philadelphia - 
This wagon service evidently proved to be very satisfactory as there is nothing on record 
to show that they made use of their wharfing privileges, yet, while they sold their two lots 
on the corner of Ferry Street in 1763, they retained possession of their river lot for nearly 
50 years. Just what connection there was between this lot and the stone house for single 
brethren, they had erected on their other property, is not yet quite clear. Probably the 
old Moravian building was intended merely for a home for those connected with the 
enterprise. 

[ 8i ] 



About that time, the Penns disposed of all their landed in- 
terests in San Domingo to Jeremiah Piersoll, a commission mer- 
chant of Philadelphia. Piersoll converted as much of this land 
as he could into building lots. The balance he transferred to 
Nathan Gulick and George Troxell. This portion consisted of 
the block bounded by the Lehigh, Bank Street, Lehigh Street 
and Third Street. In 1811 they opened, for public use, what is 
now Washington Street and the two small courts that intersect 
each other. On the Third Street side, reaching from this court 
to the Lehigh, they sold a strip of ground 18 feet wide to the 
County Commissioners for the purpose of making an anchorage 
for the chain bridge then about to be constructed. At the north- 
west corner of Washington, they sold a part to James Hackett, a 
hatter, who erected thereon in the year 1812 the present stone 
building which he conducted for a number of years as a hotel. 
About the year 1800 all the water front of the surrounding dis- 
trict was disposed of by the Penns and soon became lined with 
new warehouses. 

The two Ferries were consolidated and had a common land- 
ing at the foot of Third Street. 

And now, still within the period of William Parson's time, 
— 1752 to 1757 — we will transport ourselves to the top of the 
hill, on the south side of the Lehigh and take a further view of 
the transformation scene in the valley below. As our car passes 
up the hill we note to the right a narrow alley leading at right 
angles to Canal Street. Where it intersects the latter street, 
stands the house built by Lawrence Merkle. Merkle had already 
sold this end of the property to Cox and erected a new house at 
the other end of the tract, that he retained, near Morgans Hill. 
This house is still standing although it has undergone many 
changes and is now a modern residence, the summer home of Mr. 
Reuben Kolb. Cox transferred his property back to the Penns. 
When Parsons erected the Ferry in 1752 the building was utilized 
for the Ferry house. 

At last we have reached the summit of this portion of Lehigh 
Hills now called Lachenour Heights, from where we have a 
grand panoramic view of the scene below. Here, we find Par- 
sons busy with the details necessary in the settlement of the new 
town; Secretary Peters, Governor Hamilton and Dr. Greame, 
active in securing advantages beneficial to the embryo metropolis. 
They acquired the Ferry property from the Martin heirs on the 
Jersey side of the river, and foreclosed on that portion on the 
Pennsylvania side, which was held only by lease. They also 
purchased the property, on the Delaware side, of Balser Hess 
and Cox's ambition for a rival town caused him to purchase the 
tract of Anthony Albright, adjoining it. Parsons, in a letter to 

[ 82 ] 




Site of the Old Lutheran Church 




Draught of Easton Showing Martin Tract on Jersey 
Sitle of River 



Odd Fellows' Hall, Later Masonic Hall 



Peters, writes that Cox is desirous of disposing of his holdings, 
as he doubts Albright's honesty and fears he might damage the 
property. In this letter, he advises Peters to purchase it for 
the proprietors, as it would benelit them more than anybody else, 
lying as it does between the other two tracts belonging to Penn. 
HoAvever they were somewhat dilatory and Cox, over-anxious, 
sold the property to Drumheller, a blacksmith, and thereby van- 
ished the prospects of a rival town on the south side of the 
Lehigh. 

In 1752, a road was opened from the Lehigh Ferry up the 
hill, and leading into the old ferry road and thence along what 
is now the Ilellertown road, until it intersected with the road 
from Bethlehem to Durham, thence to Durham — a distance of 14 
miles — which became known as the Philadcli)hia Road. There 
were considerable changes made to this highway, after stages 
began running between Easton and T'hiladelphia, and the distance 
shortened about 5 miles. 

Parsons conducted the Lehigh F'erry and the one over the 
Delaware, he leased to Nathaniel Vernon. Vernon was ferry- 
man for the Martin heirs, through whom he had ac(|uired some 
rights which Parsons was inclined to ignore and brought a suit 
of ejectment to oust Vernon. After five days wrangling before 
the Court, a verdict was rendered in favor of Vernon and war 
continued between them until the death of Parsons. The execu- 
tor of Parson's estate was forced to bring suit for settlement. 
Finally, Vernon rendered on account of his claims to offset the 
rent of the Ferry. Many of the items were ridiculous but were 
allowed by the executor merely to get rid of Vernon. One of the 
items was for three bowls of punch furnished for Parsons v/hen 
he moved into his new house ; another was for five days' expenses 
attending court, and lawyer and witness' fees in the suit brought 
by Parsons.'' 

The two Ferries were consolidated and leased to l^ouis Gor- 
don for 50 pounds per annum and tenant to keep boats in repair. 
Gordon sublet to Daniel Brodhead for two years and again re- 
newed. Then later Gordon conducted it himself with Jacob 
Abel and Peter Ehler as Ferrymen. Then in 1778, Abel and 
Ehler leased it from Gordon and after the Revolutionary War, 

'* Parsons writes vnidcr date March 12, 1757, " Hy the enclosed writ, you will perceive 
that I am obliticd to enter into a new disptite with Vernon. He. by some means has got 
my l)oat into his possession and refuses to let nie have her again." 

Vernon was a troublesome citizen. In 1758 he was brought before the conit and con- 
victed of selling liquor unlawfully. On this occasion he stood in the middle of the room, 
sauced the Judge and boasted of beins an KnKlishnian and accused all the County Officials, 
from the JudRe down, of crooked dealinRs. Vernon after a turbulent career, relinquished 
possession of the Ferry to the Penns and in 1761 removed to Bedford Coiiuty where he 
invested his capital in a magnificent plantation of more than a thousand acres. This he 
divided among his childreti without making any record of the transaction. During the 
Revolutionary War, he naturally became a Tory, stubbornly resisting all overtures, the 
Government consfiscated all the property, impovershing not only himself but all his 
children. 

1 83 ] 



the Penns sold the Ferry rights to Jeremiah Piersoll, who in 
turn employed Abraham Horn and Jacob Shouse as Ferrymen. 
The common landing at this time was at the foot of Third 
Street. 

In the year 1790, Jacob Keller, blacksmith, who some time 
previous had purchased the Albright plantation from Cox, ac- 
quired the corner tract which consisted of 46 acres and included 
the two Ferry Houses, but by warrant only, and transferred his 
rights to Shouse and Horn. Shouse resided in the house on the 
Lehigh and Horn in the old Martin house on the Delaware side. 
In the year 1805 Jeremiah Piersoll purchased in fee this tract 
and made satisfactory settlement to Keller for his prior rights. 
Piersoll disposed of his ferry to Shouse and Horn and part of the 
tract, which is now Snufftown, to John Ralston who converted 
it into town lots and sold to various purchasers. The old Martin 
ferryhouse he conducted as a hotel. Piersoll divided the balance 
of the tract into small lots which later became known as Pepper- 
town. Ralston's portion soon became quite a settlement and was 
called Williamstown. Soon after this the State Surveyors 
appeared on the scene laying plans for a canal to be constructed 
by the State. Later, the canal itself plowed through, taking away 
the best houses and virtually snufifed out the town, and thus it 
acquired the title of "Snufftown." The canal made it a port of 
entry and the place became compactly settled with boatmen and 
its flickering light received new energy, and was given the new 
name of Williamsport. 

Abraham Horn became the sole owner of the ferry on the 
Lehigh which he conducted very profitably for a number of 
years. Then about the year 1795, he conceived the scheme of 
discontinuing the ferry and constructing a bridge. He selected 
the narrowest point on the river, which happened to be at the 
same place as the ferry landing, at the foot of Third Street. In 
1796, he as County Commissioner, interested the county in con- 
structing the bridge at this point, and abutments on each side of 
the river were constructed in 1797 and Horn given the contract 
to erect the bridge. 

The first bridge over the Lehigh was erected at the foot of 
South Third Street in 1798 by order of the County Commis- 
sioners. The abutments were constructed by a Mr. Searles of 
Bath and the bridge by Abraham Horn, a leading carpenter, and 
also one of the commissioners. The plan of the bridge was 
original with Horn, who assumed all responsibility for its suc- 
cess. The design was in the form of an arch of one span, two 
hundred and eighty feet long, but evidenly it was not intended 
to be its own support as in the contract to build, the abutments 
there was included anchorage for chains. There is apparently 

[84 ] 




View up Northampton Street About 1865 




One of the Four Anchors Used 

by Abraham Horn in His 

First Bridge 1797-8 



only one theory as to the use of these chains, for by reason of 
the omission of piers their support was necessary for holding in 
position the middle of the bridge. A few days after it was 
opened for public use, a Mr. Stoever of Lower Saucon Township, 
on his way home from Easton was crossing with a four-horse 
team, probably in a hurried manner, which caused the bridge to 
weaken for he had barely reached the opposite end when the 
bridge collapsed. 

Horn replaced the bridge by another, a year later, with 
funds furnished by friends who were his creditors and had lost 
in his first venture. 

Some years later an act of legislature was passed granting 
permission to the county authorities to reimburse Horn for his 
losses, if they deemed it advisable. Horn about this time entered 
into politics and was elected to office in the campaign in which 
the bridge question was the principal issue. Horn then, with his 
interested friends, prevailed on the county commissioners to 
reimburse him for the full amount of his losses with interest. 

This second bridge remained for less than ten years when it 
was destroyed by a freshet. 




Chain Bridge Over the Lehigh River 

It was not replaced until 1811 when the county constructed 
what was known as the Chain Bridge. This was made with 
three spans on two stone piers, and withstood several large 
freshets, but began to weaken about the year 1837, when it was 
replaced by a wooden structure, with three spans and two 
piers. This survived the freshet of 1840 but succumbed to that 
of 1 841. Then in the year 1843 another was created with two 
spans and one pier. This fifth bridge was carried away bodily 
by the great freshet of 1862 and then replaced by one made of 
iron tubing. This in turn was condemned in 1889 and another, 
the seventh one, erected in its place. These two iron bridges were 
constructed during the period when iron was considered as the 
best material from which to construct bridges. This latter was 
made of heavy iron intended to carry over it freight trains of 
the Easton & Northern Railroad. Fortunately it never came 

[ 85 ] 



to pass that this extra strain was placed upon the structure, as 
the scheme of a railroad crossing it was abondoned. It was then 
discovered that the bridge was too heavy and liable to collapse 
with its own weight and it was frequently condemned as unsafe. 
And now, in the year of our Lxjrd nineteen hundred and twelve, 
there is being constructed at this place a modern bridge of re- 
enforced concrete, the ninth and in all probability the last, as, 
by reason of its indestructibility, it should remain indefinitely. 

This destruction of old bridges and their piers caused an 
accumulation of stones and waste bridge material in the bed of 
the river and this, together with the coal that had been spilled 
there from time to time during the period of ark navigation, 
formed a false bottom in the river. In the year 1867 when the 
Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad Company were making prepara- 
tions to cross the river at this point, their bridge engineer under- 
took to make the base for the pier by constructing a huge box in 
the bed of the river, filling it with stones and pouring into it 
upwards of ten thousand barrels of hydraulic cement, believing 
that it would form a concrete mass sufficient to sustain the weight 
of the pier. However the action of the under current carried the 
greater part of the cement down stream, forming a crust over the 
artificial bottom of the river, down the entire distance to the dam. 
Upon this apparently solidified base the pier was constructed. The 
freshets of subsequent years and the natural corording of cement 
caused this unsubstantial base to wear away and for a number of 
years the pier was supported solely by the bridge overhead. In 
this condition it remained until the year 1903, when during a 
great freshet flie pier collapsed, carrying with it one span of the 
bridge, and both disappearing under water. The Railroad Com- 
pany replaced it with a new one of modern concrete construction. 
This additional accumulation of stone and iron in the bottom of 
the river was an unlooked for obstacle for the contractors of the 
new concrete bridge, causing considerable delay in completing 
this structure. 

We will now turn back to the year 1752 and continue our 
journey westward over this plateau. For many years prior to 
this date, this entire section, from the Delaware to Glendon Val- 
ley, was fully settled and cultivated. The first settlers, besides 
those previously mentioned, were Peter Lattig, Philip Woodring, 
Michael Gress, George William Kohl (Kale), Peter Edelman, 
Philip Odenwelder, Lawrence Kuester, Philip Wendell Opp, 
John Rush, Melchor Hay, Conrad Hess, Michael Hess — sons of 
Balser — Powell Reeser, Dr. Frederick Ricker, and some of these 
had numerous grown sons, making quite a community. The 
ravine, a short distance southeast of the Kleinhaus green-houses, 
during the Revolutionary War was the headquarters of Procter's 

[ 86 ] 



Artillery when not in active service. Here he held a sort of 
strategic position, easy of access to the River and within a day's 
journey of either New York or Philadlephia. About fifty years 
ago, the ruins of improvised brick fire-places were still in evi- 
dence through the entire length of the ravine. Tradition says 
that huge piles of cord wood, placed some distance from the 
camps were set on fire by Tories and the company formed a 
bucket brigade and extinguished the fire sustaining a loss of only 
a part of their firewood. This community had a settled center, 
the south end was where now is Cedarville, the north end is now 
Coal Street at the Lehigh. Where the present Philadelphia road, 
Line Street and the Hellertown road meet, is an old stone house. 
This was the hotel called "Lofty Oaks" and conducted by Conrad 
Hess. At the foot of Morgan Hill, on the site of the present 
reservoir was a church, erected about 1730 which flourished until 
1750. It was known as the "CONGREGATION ON THE 
DELAWARE RIVER BELONGING TO THE LUTHERAN 
RELIGION." At one time it numbered about 300 people, living 
in the regions north and east. The burial ground was the present 
Hay cemetery, to which we now come and from this vantage 
point we have an extended view up the Lehigh. This burial 
ground was established by Jeremiah Bast and John Rush as a 
joint family affair. Melchor Hay and his sons were farmers on 
the Rush plantation and when Rush failed Hay purchased the 
property. Permission was then given to bury any of the near 
neighbors in this cemetery. When the Odenwelders acquired 
possession they enlarged it for public use and gave it the present 
name, in honor of Melchor Hay. 

This was probably, the largest Lutheran congregation at 
that period in America. Here worshipped all the Lutherans of 
upper Jersey. During the first few years services were held only 
on important religious anniversaries. Later they were held more 
frequently or whenever an itinerant preacher could be procured. 

On the day preceding these special services it was necessary 
to notify the inhabitants of the events. This was done by build- 
ing huge bon-fires on the summit of Morgan's Hill. These fires 
could be seen for forty miles around and, on the following day, 
there could be found assembled Magnus Decker of upper Jersey, 
Nicholas Ensel of Sussex, Jacob Lunger from Changewater, 
John Adam Schnell, Jacob Loefier and Peter Herring from along 
the Musconetcong, Nicholas Kern of near Lehigh Gap, John 
Fein of Finesville, Philip Reimer from Upper Mt. Bethel, Wil- 
helm Volbrecht from Egypt. Ludwig Klein from Scott's Moun- 
tain and others of their neighbors. The members of this remark- 
able congregation whose names are here recorded, constituted 
nearly the entire population at the Forks and the regions round- 
about. 

[ 87 ] 



George Raub, Jacob Raub, Peter Raub, Martin Manlin, 
Michael Raub, Jacob Kister, John Lerch, Michael Meyer, John 
Bast, Jacob Bast, Jeremiah Bast, Leonard Kister. John Adam 
Schnell, John Schuch, Magnus Decker, Henrich Decker, Bern- 
hard Wilhelni. Leonard Hartzell, George Wilhelm Koehl, Adam 
Bayer, John Henrich Kleinhans, Balzer Hess, Peter Hess, Con- 
rad Hess, Michael Hess, Frederich Hess, Michael Bernhard, 
Laurence Merkel, Frederick Giehrast, Nicholas Ensel, Nicholas 
Kern, Wilhelm Gahr, Wendel Brechbiehl, John Bleyler, John 
Feit, John Adam Schwartzwelder, Peter Rieser, Powel Rieser, 
Mathias Bruch, Jacob Abel, Daniel Wormbsea, Peter Ouattle- 
baum, Leonard Vogelmann, Elias Hesel, John Berger, Frederick 
Lunger, Abraham Lunger, Dr. Peter Sailer, John Conrad Vogel- 
man, Michael Wilhelm. Jacob Geyer, Henry Frantz, Henry 
Giehrast. Paul Reeser. Jacob Rodenhoster, Wilhelm \"olbrecht, 
Peter Moelich. Johan Yost, Rothenberger. Johan Michael Enders 
(Andrews) Wilhelm Kern. Johan Philip Odenwelder, Jacob 
Maurer. Jacob Koch, Johan Frantz Mehrbos, Christian Miller, 
Jacob Gukert, Powell Frantz, Jacob Brotzman, Christian Mohr, 
Bodrik De Winne. Gerhardt Mohr, Peter Wohleber, Frederick 
Brotzman, Gottfried IMoelich, Michael Schumacher, Johan 
Schumacher. Godfried Reich, Jacob Zug. Peter Lerch, Jacob 
Ritschy, Elias Meyer. Mathias Fraunfelder. John Faas. Thomas 
Fein, Jacob Bentz, Rudolph Dantzeler, Henrich Luck, John 
Adam Frickeroth, Jacob Beutelman, Wilhelm Kern. Christian 
Eckert, Chirstopher Kintzel, Jacob Dech, John IMelchior, God- 
fried Klein. Andrew Grub, Peter Grub, Wilhelm Phillip. Elias 
Dietrich. George ]\Iathias Otto, Conrad Fritz, Adam Schmidt, 
John Weiler. John Feber, John Michael Leder. Christopher 
Falkenberg. Leonard Kiefer. John Bartholomew. Peter Lantz, 
Nicholas Lantz, Conrad Zeller, John Sherffenstein, Johan Peter 
Richer, Jacob Schaup, John Bast, Mathias Unzinger, Johan 
Philip Dick. Philip Bozzerd. Michael Koch, Jacob Paddendorfer. 
Valentine Schultz. Peter Wolleber, George Reimel. John Peter 
Edelman. Andrew IMiller, George Ditman. John W'ildrick, Peter 
Herring. John Klackner. Johan Philip Weltz. Jacob Miller. Se- 
bastian Keyser, Mathias Schmidt. Mathias Pentz, Henry Reim- 
schmidt, Jacob Weltz, Johan Pohl, Jacob Reich, Jacob Trieb, 
Joseph Aninger. Anton Hener. Johan Drumheller. George Shick, 
John Daniel Reinheimer. George Henry LTnangst. Philip Opp, 
George Micheal Krauss. John Peter Schonfelter, John Christian 
Heil. Geo. Sickman. Jacob Kutzler. John Enneger. Henry 
Schrenk. Jacob Loeffler. Christopher Falkenberger, Ludwig Dit- 
man, Johan Jacob Peisher, Henry Haudenshield, Jacob Ritter, 
John Conrad Wollenweber, Jacob Rumfelt. John Ludwig Rep- 
sher. Philip Wendel Opp, Jacob Klipel, Powel Kuntz, Henry 

[ 88 ] 



Salmon, Baltzer Dielman, Frederich Kuhn, Mathias Unsinger, 
Jacob Zeller. Not only these but their wives and grown children 
helped to swell the membership, making a congregation of nearly 
three hundred people. This, certainly, is a remarkable showing 
for so early a period which was prior to the laying out of the 
county of Northampton and of the town of Easton, in 1752. Its 
disruption was caused by factional feuds, sectional warring being 
constant between the Jerseyites and the Pennsylvanians. The 
great number of the English speaking people of the Jersey side, 
influenced, to a surprising degree, the German element living in 
their midst and these poor deluded Germans began aping their 
English neighbors and imagined themselves a little better than 
their despised German brethren on the other side of the river 
who remained true to the tradition of their sires, maintaining 
intercourse with each other in the language of their Fatherland. 
The German Jerseyites, not only acquired the English language 
but evinced a desire to have their name appear in English form. 
This was unfortunate for not many years later, the different 
branches of many of these families utterly failed to recognize 
the relationship existing between them. While some of these 
adopted names were of proper English equivalent, others show a 
lack of knowledge in the translation of the German term to that 
of English. Some of these are more noticeable than others, as, 
for instance, we take the case of the two brothers by the name 
of Moelich. One of these lived in Williams township and main- 
tained the name in its original form while the other changed his 
to Mellick. He remained on the Jersey side of the river, built 
the old stone house still standing at Carpenterville. They be- 
came entirely lost to each other. Another prominent name of 
the period in review was that of Zimmerman who changed his 
name to Carpenter. Johannes Fein became the founder of Fines- 
ville. Johannes Feit clung to his proper name although some of 
Tiis family run along, for some yearsj as Fight. This transition 
certainly is more phonetic than correct. The next is the com- 
pound name, Holtz-Heysen. Someone of this name, evidently, 
not content with one change, handed down to posterity, three 
ways of spelling it. SchoefT, evidently, was in earnest in making 
the change as he lived for several years under the name of Sheep, 
the English equivalent. His descendants, however, grew up 
Sharp and the family is quite numerous through Jersey under 
that name. Reeser was represented by three brothers, two of 
whom, retained the name while the other omittjed the last letter 
and this branch bcame the well-known family by the name of 
Reese. The descendants of Hans Ludwig Klein, seceded from 
the Lutheran denomination entirely and found an agreeable 
•place in the Presbyterian camp where they are well represented 

[ 89 ] 



under the English name, CHne. Two brothers by the name 
Rothenberger, settled along the river bank a short distance below 
the present railroad bridges, under the name of Rosenberger. 
One of these, later, removed across the river into Bucks County, 
retaining the name, Rosenberger. The other raised a large family 
who made the change into Roseberger, Rosenberg and Rose- 
berry. The original plantation remained in the possession of the 
latter branch and became known as Roseberry's Fishery. 

Dammer became Tammer, and later, Tomer. Schubmann 
was changed to Shipman. Brechbiel turned into Brakely. There 
were a great many other changes in these German names but the 
change was not so far removed from the original. 

This transition of names and ideas also had its influence on 
the Pennsylvania side of the river where a few changes were 
made. One of particular note is that of Leonard Keuster, a 
distiller in Williams township. He had a large family a number 
of whom migrated to different parts of the province and as- 
sumed different names. One of these was Kessler, after whom, 
the village of Kesslersville, in Plainfield Township, is named. 
Another went to what is now Lehigh County under the name of 
Kistler. Another went into what is now Monroe County and 
his descendants became known as Custard. A part of this latter 
branch settled in Ohio and omitted the last letter, producing the 
name of Custar, General Custer, the noted military leader, was 
one of this branch. 

The precise time when the church, belonging to this con- 
gregation, was erected, will probably never be known. Neither 
has the year, in which the congregation was formed, been de- 
termind. 

John Casper Sj:oever arrived in America in 1728. He then 
was twenty-one years of age. He immediately proceeded to the 
interior of the Province and began forming congregations among 
the scattered settlers. In this congregation on the Delaware, he 
records baptisms in 1733. The regular church records began in 
1740, at which time, Johan Justice Jacob Birckenstock, an itiner- 
ant preacher or reader, he not having been ordained to preach, 
assumed charge and continued to officiate here in connection with 
three other congregations along the south side of the Lehigh 
mountainbetween the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. He was 
a man of education and was assessed as clerk. In those days, 
the educated emigrants who possessed little or no knowledge of 
trades, were compelled to seek a vocation to which they were 
more adapted, and, as there was a great demand for preachers 
and teachers, these men of profession turned their attention to 
missionar)^ work. Both Stoever and Birckenstock were men of 
exceptional ability and did great service in the cause of Luther- 

[ 00 ] 



anism in the colony. These two, among others of these itinerant 
preachers, paved the way for Muhlenberg, who, clothed with 
ministerial power, arrived in America, a dozen years later. 

Muhlenberg evidently did not recognize any unordained 
minister and persistenly refused to ordain either Stoever or 
Birckenstock. The work of these itinerant preachers was of a 
very different character from that of Muhlenberg. They, as 
pioneer missionaries, were obliged to deal with the rude and gross 
condition of a neglected generation of people, gathered together 
to listen to the word of God for the first time. There was no 
organization and no mode of worship. There was total ignorance 
on the part of the rising generation, and, in general, all the rude- 
ness of the primitive and pioneer Hfe. There was no one in the 
Pennsylvania wilderness who was capable of examining or 
ordaining these workers, or even of administering the holy sac- 
rament. They officiated in the individual capacity and not like 
Muhlenberg, as a special representative of a powerful missionary 
institution in Europe and of the civil government in London. 
However, there was no mistaking their adherence to the unalt- 
ered Augsburg Confession. Muhlenberg's persistent hostility 
toward these indefatigable workers was really the means of 
bringing about the very conditions that he deplores in his com- 
munications to the home body and it was only of late years that 
these early unordained missionaries received the credit due them. 
Stoever organized this congregation between 172(8 and 1730, 
served it for a few years longer as we find a baptism by him in 
1737 and, then probably, relinquished his charge entirely as, 
about this time, he was confiining himself to the territory west 
of the Schuylkill. 

Birckenstock assumed charge in 1739 ^"^ began systematic 
record in 1740. He also entered a memorandum, on the inside 
front cover of the Record Book, of two baptisms by Stoever, one 
of 1733 and the other 1737. He, evidently, was popular with the 
congregation as it was during his pastorate that their membership 
made rapid increase. In year 1749 he made a trip to Europe to 
become ordained and to raise a fund for religious purposes in 
America. He, unfortunately, died while abroad and the congre- 
gation was reduced to the necessity of employing any itinerant 
who happened to be in the vicinity. Muhlenberg records a visit 
to this congregation in 1747 and apologizes for so doing by say- 
ing that he was urgently requested, by friends, to make the visit. 
He, eivdently, did not know much about these two congregations 
as he also mentions them as "two small congregations existing at 
the Forks." Whether he desired to ignore them entirely or to 
make them appear of little consequence, as, at that time, one of 

[ 91 ] 



these congregations, under review, could show the largest mem- 
bership of any Lutheran congregation in America. 

The year 1750 marked an epoch in the history of this con- 
gregation, Ludolph Henry Schrenk, one of Muhlenberg's emis- 
saries, assumed the pastoral charge. The smouldering embers of 
discontent now bursts forth in flames of disruption. The Jersey 
faction seceded from the congregation and established a church 
of their own in Greenwich township, about two miles east of the 
Delaware, near what is now Stewartsville, Warren County, New 
Jersey. Here, they built a church, covering the roof of it with 
straw. It became known as Straw Church, and is so called even 
to this day. They, some years later, adopted the title of St. 
James Evangelical Lutheran Congregation in Greenwich. 

The Pennsylvania faction of the old congregation, with a 
few of the Jerseyites who still remained loyal, are rocerded in the 
church book as follows : 

A list of those who are minded to hold to the congregation 
here and what they are willing to give yearly, as long as each 
chooses. Should, however, one or another quit, he shall inform 
the deacons that he no longer holds thereto. 

Gottfried Moelich 

Peter Moelich 

George Raub 

John Bast 

Jacob Loefler 

Jacob Grub 

Wilhelm A'olbrecht 

Loenard Kister 

John Philip Dick 

George Schuk 

Dom. Schmitt 

Jacob Brotzman 

Balzer Hess . 

Michael Wilhelm . 

Peter Seller 

Christian Eckert 

Mathias Fraunfelder 

John Fein 

John Feit 

Peter Lantz 

Michael Roseberger 

Yost Roseberger 

Elias Dietrich 

Jacob Lerch 

George Ditmar 

[ 92 ] 





£1 


i.S 


Sh. 


20 


Sh. 


i.S 


Sh. 


10 


Sh. 


8 


Sh. 


5 


Sh. 




£1 


3 


Sh. 


2 


Sh. 


8 


Sh. 


7 


Sh. 


S 


Sh. 




£1 


10 


Sh. 


18 


Sh. 


4 


Sh. 


5 


Sh. 


6 


Sh. 


.S 


Sh. 


6 


Sh. 


6 


Sh. 


.S 


Sh. 


5 


Sh. 


5 


Sh. 



John Sharps 7 Sh. 6 D. 

Jacob Rittcr 4 Sh. 

Frederick Lunger 9 Sh., 

Dorothy Rothenhof er 7 Sh. 6 D.. 

Frederick Dick 2 Sh. 6 D. 

Peter Herring 5 Sh.. 

John Peter Edelman 3 Sh. 

John Ludwig Klein 7 Sh. 6 D.. 

Henry Dammer 7 Sh. 6 D. 

John Erdoster 2 Sh. 

Christian Jacob Schuk * * * 

Philip Feister 2 Sh. 

John Michael Meyer 3 Sh. 

Philip Otewaller 4 Sh.. 

Philip Reimel 2 Sh. 

John Miniger • 3 Sh. 

Jacob Zeller 2 Sh. 6 D. 

Jacob Richer • 4 Sh. 

Bernhard Miller 4 Sh.. 

John Daniel Reinheimer 4 Sh. 

Five of these were at this time, residents of New Jersey and. 
th records show the names of the two Rosebergers crossed out. 
Evidently, presuaaion was brought to bear on these two worthies, 
by the Jerseyites. Some twenty years later when the first records 
of the Straw church were begun, we find recorded the names of 
these two Rosberger, along with those of Fein, Feit, Diterich, 
Sharps,Ritter, Lunger, Herring, Klein and Dammer under the 
changed form of Tomer. 

The old congregation appeared to thrive for awhile. The 
list of communicants in the spring of 1750 was 53, in December 
of that year, 37, April 1751, 26, November 1751, 23, May 1752,. 
62, November 1752, 2, April 1753, 122, including ten confirmed, 
T-754, 37, 1755' 77- I" April 1753 apparently was a rally day as. 
the records for this occasion show the names of many of the 
Jerseyites, also some of the former Saucon congregation, at that 
time, known as the Williamston and Sacona and, at the present, 
old Williams. Probably, this large attendance was caused by one 
of the visits of Muhlenberg, who, about this time, had made a 
name for himself and cleared the field of many of the itinerant 
readers. While Muhlenberg was creating a substantial minister- 
ium, he was reducing the force of school teachers as all the itin- 
erants were teachers as well as preachers and they were equally- 
as popular as those furnished by Muhlenberg. The eastern end 
of Williams townshiup as well as many other parts of the Penn- 
sylvania wilderness, depended on these itinerant preachers for- 
many years after Muhlenberg's time. 

[ 93 ] 



Just when this old congregation ceased to exist as a unit, has 
not yet been determined but services were held periodically until 
about 1815. Occasionally, services were held in the old church 
"by the few adherents of the Reformed denomination. The bury- 
ing ground for this territory was what is now known as Hay's 
cemetery. Here, about 181 5, the remnant of the old congrega- 
tion, erected a building or what might be termed, a shed, in 
which they held services occasionally. The majority of the mem- 
-bers of the old congregation, about this time, became identified 
with the congregation at the Old Williams. About the year 1820, 
the old church building was demolished and the stone part of it 
was used in the construction of the stone building directly west, 
-along the opposite side of the Philadelphia road and which, after 
undergoing another change in the year 1907 is now a modern 
residence and bears no evidence as being part of the old church 
edifice. 

The supposition that this old congregation affiliated with the 
-one at Easton, in the year 1755, at the time of the erection of 
what was locally called, the Charity school, where Lutheran ser- 
vices were also held ocsasionally, is erroneous, as very few of 
the names appear on the records of this new congregation and 
these names were only of those who had taken up their residence 
in Easton. 

Muhlenberg's antagonism toward these itinerant preacher- 
teachers was shared by his disciples and they kept up a constant 
serife until long after the Revolutionary war. One of these 
regulars held forth at the Straw church, and, when the parents 
of a month old babe that had not yet been baptzed, fearing that 
death might overtake the little one, sent for this disciple of Muh- 
lenberg to perform the ceremony, there being no other minister 
in the neighborhood at the time, he graciously complied. How- 
ever, he enters on the records of his congregation, "Baptized in 
Williams township, a case of necessity, a child named (here giv- 
ing the names of the child and parents)" In the space alloted to 
sponsors, we find this statement, "besides the parents of the child, 

were present, the grand parents, . Owing to they being 

from a community in which they maintained disorderly preachers, 
they were rejected as sponsors." The grandfather, here referred 
to, was, at the time, a leading man of Williams township, sheriflf 
of Northampton county and served two terms in the State 
Legislature. 

Many of these ambassadors of the Lord whose ordination 
occurred early in the American crusade, were not made of the 
"best of mankind and were susceptibleto vanity and malice. Prob- 
ably, credit is due these ancient communicants of Williams town- 

[ 94 ] 




Lawrence Merkle's House, 1740; Ferry House, 1752; Lafayette College, 1832 Photo 1911) 




Conrad Hess's Hotel, '"Lofty Oaks' 




View Up the Lehigh Showing Chain Dam and Island Park 



ship, for sound judgment in maintaining itinerant preachers for 
so many years. 

In the valley below us are the ruins of the Glendon Iron 
Furnaces, erected when iron was king, with domains in the 
Lehigh Valley. This concern flourished, notwithstanding its 
reckless policy of magnificent extravagance and only succumbed 
with the advent of steel. 

We will now proceed eastwardly via Canal Street, stopping 
a few minutes in front of the old College Building and note its 
beginning. 

BEGINNING OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE 

February 14, 1832. 

Lafayette College — This institution is about going into effect 
at this place on the first of April next. The Trustees have taken 
Mr. Christopher Midler's farm, south of the Lehigh bridge, ad- 
joining the borough, with all the buildings, for the institution. 
The Rev. George Junkin, at present principal of the manuel 
labor school at Germantown, had been appointed President of 
the college. The other professors have not as yet been selected. 
The institution will combine agriculture and manuel labor, with 
the usual course of collegiate studies. The terms of charter 
authorize the taking of scholars of any grade, and permits them 
to graduate in any or all the branches. 

The excellent location of the college, about equidistant from 
Philadelphia and New York, the high character and standing of 
the President, and the cheapness with which the students can be 
maintained and taught, we trust, will make this institution flour- 
ishing and eminently useful. 

May 9th, 1832. 

LaFayette College — The Summer term or session of this 
institution will commence tomorrow. 

The location of the institution, immediately across the river 
Lehigh from this place, on a fertile and productive farm — the 
combination of agriculture and manuel labor, with the course of 
studies, thus giving to the students habits of industry, and ex- 
pertness in the use of tools and ordinary labor, and preserving 
their health by three hours of useful and laborious exercise per 
day, cannot fail to make it popular, if properly conducted. 

The Rev. Mr. Junkin, late of the Germantov/n Manuel 
Labor Academy, is the president of the Institution, and Dr. F. 
A. Rauch professor of German. The appointment of the other 
instructors rests with the president of the College. From his 
character and talents we feel satisfied that the various depart- 
ments are and will continue to be well filled. 

[ 95 ] 



It is already ascertained that there will be from 40 to 50 
students to commence with, and as the merits of the institution 
become known and appreciated, we are sanguine in believing the 
number will be increased as fast as accommodations can be fur- 
nished for them. 

In answer to various enquiries as to terms, we learn they are 
as follows : 

For tuition, lodging and the use of tools, $40 per annum. 
Boarding, $1.50 per week. Good testimonial of moral character 
is required, and $10 per quarter to be paid in advance. 

July 4th, 1832. 

In the evening the Washington and Franklin Literary So- 
ciety attached to Lafayette College, with the Board of Trustees 
and the clergy of the place, assembled at the College in procession 
and proceeded to the Presbyterian Church, where the Declara- 
tion of Indpendence was read in a very handsome manner by 
A. Prior, Esq., and an address delivered by J. M. Porter, Esq. 
We had not the pleasure to hear it, having been absent, but we 
learn from those who did that it was one of the gentleman's 
best efforts. It is to be published. 

FIRST FALL OPENING OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE 1832 

The Trustees of LaFayette College have determined on 
opening the classes regularly for the college course, with the 
beginning of the winter session. The institution has now sixty 
four pupils in it, and would have upwards of an hundred, had 
they buildings sufficient for their accommodation. 

The prospects of success have induced the trustees to open 
a subscription in aid of the funds to purchase a permanent loca- 
tion, which in the course of a few days will be submitted to 
their fellow-citizens, and as introductory thereto the Rev. Mr. 
Junkin, President of the Institution, will, on Friday evening next 
(August 31st, 1832) at early candle light in the Lutherean 
Church, deliver an address explanatory of the course of instruc- 
tion and employment, and other matters of interest connected 
with the college. 

We trust that our citizens will endeavor to attend. The 
address is intended merely to make known the necessary facts 
and information to the citizens preparatory to active operations 
in behalf of the college. It is not intended to take up any col- 
lection on that evening. 

The meeting was reported as follows : 

On Friday evening last (August 31, 1832) the Rev. Mr. 
Junkin delivered in the Lutheran Church, a discourse on the 
subject of education, accompanied by an explanation of the 

[96 ] 



course of studies and labor practised at the LaFayette College^ 
located at this place. 

Those who heard the address speak of it as one of great 
ability, and showed the force and acumen of the mind of its 
author,— the explanation of the course of exercises at the col- 
lege, which, as the public are aware, is conducted on the plan of 
manual labor, was quite satisfactory. There is no doubt that 
with the proper buildings and the necessary quantity of land 
furnished to the institution, the expense of education may be 
reduced by the combination of manual labor to $50 or $60 per 
month, boarding and lodging included. 

This would be a great desideratum and in such a result our 
town, nay the whole country, is deeply interested. Subscriptions 
in aid of the funds of the college, with the view to purchase of a 
site and erecting buildings, are about to be circulated. 

The present faculty of the college are : Rev. Geo. Junkin, 
President; Charles F. McCay, professor of mathematics, 
philosophy, etc.; Dr. S. D. Gross, mineralogy and chemistry; J. 
S. Coon, languages. The German professorship is vacant. 

We will now return to Centre Square, which terminates our 
second journey. 



[ 97 ] 



THIRD JOURNEY 

NORTHWARD ON NORTH THIRD STREET 




Ho ! Lads, put on the Black Cockade, 
And follow the rolling drum; 
The Battle-field be our parade, 
And our cry. The Britons Come ! 

St. George's Cross, that proudly waves 
O'er many a land and sea, 
May be a guide for hireling slaves. 
But not the flag for me. 

' ING the songs of the Hudson ! Revel in the glories of 
Bunker Hill! Shout the Fall of Yorktown! 'Tis 
well ! Battle Fields of a day ! Here the heart bows 
down. Here is reverence ; deeds of sacrifice ! This is 
old Northampton, an Empire of Resources, Washmg- 
ton's granary; its devastation the desire of the British invader, 
but baffled by the immortal commander. Old Northampton's men 
of the hour, penniless and hungry, at the front ; battlmg for the 
honor and supremacy of a new nation; their pay three months 
in arrears, the State Treasury depleted by Congress to pay the 
New England troops, no money for its own. Massachusetts 
declining to meet its obligations; old Northampton's _ northern 
border threatened with an invasion of Canadian-British and 
savage Indians; Washington's army retreating across Jersey, m 
baffling contest with a superior force, and finally culminating m 
the smoke of battle: Princeton, Trenton, Germantown, Brandy- 
wine. 

Harken to the roar of artillery and musketry! The rumb- 
ling, jumbling of the hundreds of wagons and steeds with their 
loads of maimed and dying, jostling pell mell overland into old 
Northampton, dropping hundreds of its bleeding dead by the 
wayside ! Yonder in the Union Church are quartered more than 
two hundred of the wounded, here in the old Temple of Justice 
a hundred more, there in the County's jail, its prisoners turned 
loose to make room, are many more. On come the gruesome 
chariots with their overflowing loads of the armless and legless, 
suffering untold agonies, uncared for. Forward they go, un- 
relieved in their sufferings, on to Bethlehem, on to Allentown, 
the shrieks and supplications adding to the woe of the hour. 
Sleepless nights and days of anguish ! 

[ loi ] 



Grand old Northampton — consecrated ground — impover- 
ished, that a new Nation might Hve. Pennsylvania fought the 
Revolutionary War and paid the debt. Old Northampton con- 
tributed double and treble its share, all its youth and manhood, 
an entire army in itself, did active service not only once, nor 
thrice, but a service that was equal to regular. A record that is 
unparalleled in the annals of the American Revolution. 

Notwithstanding the fact that writers of Revolutionary 
history woefully overlooked the self-sacrificing deeds of valor 
of the Pennsylvania Germans, there was no mistaken attittude 
or hesitancy shown by these Germans and their American de- 
scendants, either during the agitation or the final struggles of that 
memorable event. The archives of Northampton County give 
ample evidence of this. One event in particular shows the moral 
characteristic of the Germans. In what is now Allentown, 
which was then known as Northampton, and also in Northamp- 
ton County, prior to the year 1769, William Allen of Philadelphia 
— who was owner of all the unsold land in and around that place 
— conceived the idea of giving out lots to each of the citizens 
gratis. Allen had already espoused the British cause, and his 
sons were also in doubt as to which side they adhered to, conse- 
quently, they were in disfavor with the inhabitants of this little 
German settlement, who were not desirous of obligating them- 
selves to a class of people who had already become known as 
Tories, and refused to accept as a gift this tract of land. They 
emphasized their refusal in no mistaken terms by having passed, 
at a public meeting in May, 1769, the following resolution; to 
which later they still gave emphasis by having it recorded at the 
Court House, County of Northampton, in 1776. 

"Know all men that we the Subscribers, Proprietors of Lots 
in the town of Northampton, do hereby certify that James Allen 
hath declared to us his intention of conveying in trust for the 
Inhabitants of this town, a thousand acres of land called Barrens 
as an open fee common in persuance of a Promise made by his 
father William Allen Esq. Now we do hereby certify and make 
known that we the present Freeholders of the said town do 
refuse to accept such conveyance from him and do discharge 
him and his said father, William Allen, Esq., from any Promise 
made by Either of them to us to that purpose and we do hereby 
release to the said William Allen and James Allen any right or 
claim that we have or may have to the said common or any de- 
mand from them on that account, witness our hands and seals 
this first day of May, 1769. 

Henry Kooken, Martin Derr, George Schreiber, Peter Mil- 
ler, Lawrence Hauck, Martin Frolich, Bartle Huber, Simon 
Brenner, Margaret Brong, Peter Bishoff, George Sharp, 

[ 102 ] 




Old Union Church, Now the Third Street Reformed Church, Erected 1775-1776 



Abraham Albert, Leonard Abel, Johann Mullcr, Tobias 
Dittis, Frederick Scheckler, Mathias Wagner, Henry 
Hagenbuck, Phillip Kugler, David Deshler, Jacob Mohr, 
Daniel Nunnermacher." 

With a change of scene our car moves around the corner 
into North Third Street. Time— January, 1777. Slowly we 
approach the front of the Union Church, Ijlcak and dreary with- 
out. Within, the organ is pealing forth sweet sounds, the audi- 
ence drinking rum, not in jubilation but in solemnity. The 
occasion is fraught with import. It marks an epoch in the 
History of America. Here assembled are the eminent counselors 
of the new state and nation, putting forth all their brilliant 
efforts to induce the famous Indian Confederation of the Six- 
Nations, to forsake the liritish and espouse the cause of the new 
American States. The Iroquois Emperor announcing the ter- 
mination of the Conference with an assurance of a speedy 
assembling of the Indian Nations of the North and the prompt 
answer as to the result of the deliberations ; and the stoic Emper- 
or and the lesser Kings of the North Indian Confederation pass 
out through the portals of this" patriotic shrine. One by one they 
go forth, the door gently closes, and thus passed forever the 
White Man's influence over the Red Race of America. 

One year later the result of the Indian deliberation was read 
in the skies. The lurid glare of the heavens over old Northamp- 
ton's north border ; the aurora borealis of carnage, burning homes 
and destruction of civilization in the Wyoming Valley; the un- 
bridled ferociousness of Queen Esther and her frenzied demons' 
thirst for blood, massacreing the aged men, the women and 
children, while their sons, husbands and brothers are absent on 
duty for the new Nation. 

This grand old historic edifice with the two lots on which it 
stands, is now the property of the Third Street Reformed con- 
gregation. The lots were reserved by the Penns for school and 
church purposes and here was erected, in 1755, by public sub- 
scription, the first school building and supported by what was 
commonly known as the "English Charity Fund." There were 
others at New Providence, Upper Salford, Reading,Tulpehocken, 
Vincent (Chester County) and Lancaster. They were under the 
charge of the "SOCIETY FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE 
KNOWLEDGE OF GOD AMONG THE GERMANS." Just 
how much more knowledge of God the English possessed, they 
failed to record, but, there is plenty of evidence to show that 
they failed utterly in their efforts to substitute the King James' 
Version for the Luther Bible and this was the rock that found- 
ered the, otherwise creditable, movement. Their original inten- 
tion was good but they failed in its application. The Society's 

[ 103 ] 



affairs were managed by a "Hoard of Trustees, composed of 
English gentry, in Philadelphia, and as most of the residents of 
Easton were retired farmers of means, from the surrounding 
townships, they expressed their sentiments in no mistaken man- 
ner when these Trustees came to Easton, on their annual inspec- 
tion, with their retinue of servants and out-riilers and all the 
glitter and elegance of a pompous show. 

Previous to the establishment of these schools, the Lutheran 
Church of Germany had sent Henry INIuhlenberg to Pennsylvania 
for the purpose of promoting the Lutheran interest, and, about 
the same time, the Reformed Church of Holland had sent 
Michael Schlatter over, to inspect the conditions of the Germans 
belonging to the Reformed denomination. They supplied him 
with money and Bibles for the scattered congregations. After 
laboring here for a few years, and finding that Muhlenberg, with 
greater powers, was attaining better results he made a business 
trip to Holland and on his return to America he became inter- 
ested in this English Educational IMovement. ami when he 
arrived in Peimsylvania, he combined his pastoral labors and 
the English educational efforts and what little success these 
schools did acquire, was solely through Michael Schlatter. Less 
than a year later, someone wrote to Holland that these schools 
were all English and political and that the Trustees were all 
religious Separatists. This raised the wrath of the Hollanders 
and Schlatter was. forthwith, discharged, whereupon the English 
appointed him superintendent of the schools and thus ISIichael 
Schlatter became the First General Superintendent of the First 
Public Schools in America. These schools, however, became so 
impopular with the Germans that Schlatter, after only one year's 
service as superintendent, was forced to resign. He then, in 
1757. became chaplain in a regiment of loyal American Infantry 
and during the Revolutionary \\'ar, being then an old man. boldly 
sided with the cause of liberty, thus rendering himself especially 
obnoxious to the British, who missed no opportunity to humiliate 
and insult him. 

The present Reformed congregation have in their possession 
a Bible, which was presented to them by Schlatter either on one 
of his later visits here, or, probably, given to one of the Church 
officials, or, someone interested, while on_ a visit to his home in 
Germantown. The exact time of this occurrence will never be 
known as no date is given. The flyleaf is very gorgeously deco- 
rated and contains an inscription stating that it was presented by 
Schlatter to the congregation in Easton. The handwriting is not 
unlike that of Tost \'ollert, the first school teacher. The English 
school in this log building did not last very long and was a failure 

[ 104 ] 



from the start. William Parsons, sarcastically, writes to Peters, 
under date, July 3, 1755: 

"If ye original intentions of ye Society was that ye children 
of English parents should receive ye benefit of ye Charity freely, 
and that ye poor Germans should pay for it, then the School at 
Easton is upon a right establishment, at present, otherwise it is 
not." 

One hundred and fifty years have passed since the events 
here recorded. The descendants of these Germans still occupy 
the territory pre-empted by their sires, surrounded by a wall of 
English education 200 miles thick and that Germanism is on the 
increase. 

The Luther Bible has disappeared, supplanted by the English 
version, from which they take consolation by day. But, the 
English Bible, with all its revisions and additions, has not changed 
their German repose at night. Many of these have gone forth, 
shining lights in advanced English education, circumnavigated 
the globe, as leaders in advanced English thought, enhanced by 
American enlightenment, their Germanism yet unconquered; one 
of their number, standing pre-eminent on the highest pinnacles 
of American education, whose English thought by day has en- 
riched the world, reposes in peaceful slumbers of American 
Germanism at night, boldly announces that the time is now, v/hen 
Pennsylvania-Germanism should cease. Will it? Mag so sei; 
Ich glaabs net. 

This old log building was to be used not only for school 
purposes, but for Protestant preaching also. There were no con- 
gregations in Easton at this time or at any time previous ; every- 
body attended services whenever an itinerant preacher happened 
along. The Moravians would furnish ministers, whenever re- 
quested. Occasionally there was a call for a minister of the 
Reformed denomination and at other times a Lutheran. They 
were always promptly sent as every denomination was repre- 
sented in the Moravian Economy at Bethlehem and it is to their 
everlasting credit, that they never took advantage of existing 
conditions to advance the interests of their Economy. The near- 
est Lutheran congregation was at, what is now, Cedarville, two 
miles distant. 7'he nearest Reformed was one at Lower Saucon 
Township, the other at White Hall Township, now Egypt, 
Lehigh County. Some of the settlers, -in and around Easton, 
were Presbyterians, Jews and Roman Catholics, but they were 
few in number. The Presbyterians, however, were quite numer- 
ous in Mount Bethel and Allen townships. There was also a 
small body of them in Phillipsburg, known as "THE PRESBY- 
TERIAN CONGREGATION AND MISSION IN PHIL- 
LIPSBURG." 

[ 105 ] 



The Reformed showed a steady increase until about 1760^ 
when they formed a congregation. The Lutherans of the town, 
four-fifths of whom were the new-comers, also organized. The 
Presbyterians were yet weak and found themselves wedged be- 
tween the two stronger bodies. This made three denominations 
to worship in the old log school-house, an arrangement which was 
anything but harmonious. This difficulty could have been over- 
come, if it had not been for church festivals, such as Easter, 
Christmas, etc. The Lutherans increased in numbers, very 
rapidly, and usurped all rights to the house on these occasions of 
special ceremony. But, whether they were always permitted this, 
exclusive privilege, there is nothing on record to show, but tradi- 
tion tells us that they occasionally worshipped in the Moravian 
building. The Reformed are known to have worshipped, 
occasionally, in barns and later in the new Court House. As the 
years rolled on the Reformed became stronger in membership 
and the years of humiliation, under which they had labored, 
emboldened them to resentment. They then secured a pastor who 
could not be intimidated by the Lutherans, whose name was 
Pythan, a man accustomed to the use of strong drinks and when 
he had imbibed some Pennsylvania stone fence (apple-jack and 
wild cherry), on a Sunday morning and arrived at the church 
door first, it was a sure sign of Reformed services for that day. 
If, however, there was a lack of noisy demonstration, on a 
Sunday morning, and the Lutherans were holding services in the 
church, it was generally conceded that Pythan had been making 
too many trips to the "stone fence" and, consequently, unable to 
preach. This sort of thing went on for several years without 
any apparent ill-feeling between the two congregations. At last 
Pythan caused discord in his own church, his actions causing 
many to remain away from services and two factions in the con- 
gregation was the result- Pythan, apparently, went from bad to 
worse and had but few followers, who after a while became 
weary of Pythan and his erratic ways and discharged him. He 
then went to the Lower Saucon Church where he was compelled 
to resign (The records state for intemperance). He finally 
landed in North Carolina and history records him no further. 

REPORTS OF THE COETUS TO THE REFORMED BODY OF HOLLAND 

October 21, 1760. 

A Congregation at Easton, a newly settled village, about 60 
miles from Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, has sent in a request 
for a suitable pastor and preacher. We have promised to make 
out a call with fifty pounds for his yearl)' support. Hence we 
herewith earnestly once more request the continuance of the 

[ 106 ] 



paternal care of the Rev. Synods and Classis so as to provide 
these shepherdless sheep as soon as possible with a godly 
minister. 

June 30, 1762. 

Simon Driesbach, a delegated elder from the congregation 
in Easton, submitted a petition of said congregation concerning 
a minister. The Coetus was pleased to return a written answer 
to him, in which the congregation was notified that this matter 
had not only been laid before the proper authorities, but that 
also the Rev. Deputies of the Synods of South and North Hol- 
land had considered the matter and had called Do. Weyberg to 
them. Until the arrival of the latter, they shall be served 
occasionally by the brethren of the Coetus. 

May 3, 1763- ^. ,^ ^ 

Do. Weyberg was not only received very cordially at liaston, 
but for the most urgent reasons was again removed to Philadel- 
phia, which caused great grief to the congregation at Easton. 
But there was no other way out of the difficulty, and we shall 
use our efforts to provide Easton as soon as possible with 
another deparement. (Weyberg was a superior man and the 
Philadelphia Congregation, at this time not having a regular 
minister, asked for him to fill the vacany, which request was 
granted.) 

May 8, 1765. 

Easton, Greenwich, Plainfield and Dryland request a pastor 
in Weyberg's place. 

October 16, 1765. 

Thereupon followed Do. Henop, who had a call to Easton. 
The question put to him and his elder was answered to complete 
satisfaction ; that he was very well pleased there and would take 
the congregation under his ministry ; whereupon the elder from 
Easton explained further that Easton, Greenwich, Dryland and 
Plainfield were united, and these congregations would provide 
75 pounds, free residence and necessary fire wood, per annum. 

September 3, 1766. 

At Easton, Dr. Henop had 27 families, he baptised 17 chil- 
dren, 7 attend school. At Greenwich he had 40 families; 36 
children baptized; 8 admitted as members; 32 in school. At 
Plainfield he has 24 families; 14 children baptized; 23 received 
as members; 32 at school. At Dryland there are 33 families; 
13 children baptized; 36 received as members; 36 in school. 

[ 107 ] 



September i6, 1767. 

Do. Henop has 28 members at Easton; 16 children are in 
the school, and 21 were baptized. In Plainfield he has 24 
families; 11 children in the school; 24 confirmed, and 10 bap- 
tized. At Dryland he has 41 members, and 13 were baptized. 
In Greenwich there are 24 families; 34 were baptized and 7 
confirmed. 

September, 1768. 

The Coetus of Pennsylvania was held in Easton, September 
7th, 8th and 9th. It was opened with a sermon on Luke XIV, 
23, preached by Do. Hendel, in the Court House, since there is 
no church in Easton. The sessions were held in a suitable 
private house. 

September 20, 1769. 

Dr. Henop, who hitherto has served the congregations in 
and about Easton, and has conducted himself during that time 
so well that no one knows of anything else of him except what 
tends to his praise and conduces to our satisfaction, complains 
on two points : 

(i) About the great difficulties of his work, since on Sunday 
he has to ride nearly thirty miles and preach twice besides, 
without counting the many difficult journeys which frequently 
occur during the week. It can easily be inferred that by reason 
of these fatiguing journeys a man not only injures his health 
but must often neglect the necessary study. 
(2) Do. Henop complains secondly of the unbelief and scoffing 
at religion. These are the tares which the enemy has sown in 
and about Easton, so that one is compelled to endure not only 
much ridicule directed against our most holy faith, but worse 
than all, to observe that here and there even some members of 
the church are led astray by it. Although Do. Henop has for 
some years opposed this evil with all diligence and courage, 
those members who had been misled have not yet been won 
back. The remainder, who after all constitute the majority, Do. 
Henop regards as people to whom his teaching and faithful ad- 
monitions have been blessed, so that they zealously labor with 
him against unbelief, and also in many other respects prove 
themselves to be true Christians. The delegated elder from 
Easton was questioned about this, and testified that these com- 
plaints and representations of Do. Henop. were true, and that it 
would be a great loss to congregation there if they would have 
to give him up. 

The case of Do. Henop was immediately taken up, and with 
regard to it Coetus resolved to advise him to accept the call of 

[ loS ] 



the cono-regation in Frederick, of which mention was previously 
made Do. Kenop, who had been informed of this call someturie 
before and consequently had been able carefully to consider the. 
whole matter, immediately resolved to accept the call. We were 
pleased that the congregation in Frederick will now be provided 
with a competent pastor. 

Then there arose the question, how the congregation in and 
about Easton should henceforth be cared for. This question was 
also satisfactorily settled, in that a candidate of theology by the 
name of Pythan, had arrived this year from Germany m order, 
as he states, to visit some of his friends. He is from the Palati- 
nate, has studied at Heidelberg, and according to credible testi- 
monials has also been examined and ordained by the Palatinate 
Consistory. Inasmuch as this person possesses excellent pro- 
ficiency in theology, and also very fine gifts of delivery, which 
are necessary for a minister of the Divine Word, and applied to 
some members of the Reverend Coetus, for permission to en- 
gage in preaching here and there for a time; therefore it was 
Resolved to gratify his wish, and to arrange that he be recom- 
mended to the congregations, at Easton, which has been done. 
With regard to this candidate we believe that we could not have 
done anything better. If Mr. Pythan were a man who might 
prove unworthy, he would quickly have forced himself upon a 
congregation, and would have done our church more injury than 
he can do now. For if he does not conduct himself properly we 
can easily stop his mintsry at Easton, since these congregations 
are under the jurisdiction of the Coetus; but should he conduct 
himself as a true minister of God's Word, as from all appearances 
may be expected of him, then we wish also to recommend him 
to our greatly beloved and honored Fathers in Holland. 

September 21, 1770. 

Mr Pythan, of whom we had the honor to report in our 
last Minutes, that he had been sent to Easton on trial, was 
accused and convicted of an offensive and godless life. Alter 
earnest remonstrances and censures he confessed his failings. 
We have resolved to allow him to preach for a while longer la 
Easton, and if only once more well founded accusations should 
be preferred against him, to declare him, without any further 
proceedings, by the President and another commissioner, before 
the congregations, as a man unfit and unworthy of the ministry, 
and to free the congregations of him, and have them served by 
neighboring ministers until they can be served by another min- 
ister ; and we will then have no further communication with Mr. 
Pythan. 

[ 109 ] 



December 7, 1770. 

Mr. Pythan was deposed on account of his continued un- 
godly life. The congregation are therefore particularly com- 
mended to the fatherly care of your Reverences. 

October 9, 1771. 

Two congregations, Plainfield and Greenwich, and also the 
larger part of the congregation in Easton, which were served 
by Mr. Pythan, but are now entirely separated from him on 
account of his scandalous and offensive life and conduct, ask 
the Reverend Coetus for help, which was promised to them. 
They set forth the distress and the injury to their congregation 
which had been caused by Mr. Pythan, and that, if they could 
not soon receive help, in one way or other, they feared that the 
congregations would become still more scattered, as there are 
still a few adherents of Mr. Pithan. 

N. B. The Reverend Fathers will remember, from the 
Minutes of last year, that grave and severe complaints had come 
in against Mr. Pythan. Wherefore, in accordance with the teach- 
ing of Christ, he was reprimanded in a brotherly way, and 
admonished by us not to act in such way in the future, and that 
if any more such complaints should hereafter truthfully be pre- 
ferred against him, the Reverend Coetus would be compelled to 
prevent him from preaching any longer in the congregations 
which are under the Coetus. Inasmuch as Mr. Pythan continued 
in his offensive life, which consisted chiefly in drinking, the 
resolution of the Reverend Coetus had to be carried out in his 
case, namely, that he must give up his ofifice as minister until he 
not only promises, but also shows, real improvement. 

Many members of the congregation in Easton being well 
satisfied with his ministry, and not caring what kind of a life 
Mr. Pythan lead, separated from the other party, accepted him 
as their minister, and thus supported him in his scandalous life. 
In addition to serving the party in Easton, he serves another 
congregation, Dryland. But the two congregations mentioned 
above, and also the larger part of the congregation in Easton, 
will not have anything at all to do with Mr. Pythan. The con- 
gregation at Dryland, which belongs to the three congregations, 
was informed by letter that if in the future they had any dealings 
with Mr. Pythan, the Reverend Coetus would no longer regard 
them as a congregation of the Coetus. 

The following report of a Reformed minister goes to show 
how he managed to supply seven scattered congregations : 

"Several congregations are poor and weak and altogether 
unable to pay two ministers. 

As many members live far away from the churches, which 

[ no ] 



made it difficult for old and young (to go to church), they 
erected new churches, with the assistance of the Lutherans, 
whereby the number of Congregations, and consequently, also, 
the work of the ministers, was increased; yet the salary was but 
slightly raised. 

Church can not easily be combined with others, and hence 
would have to be vacant. 

I serve my congregations in the following manner : I preach 
twice on three Sundays and once on the fourth. During the 
summer I conduct catechization every Sunday in each congrega- 
tion. I visit each congregation every four weeks on Sunday, as 
most of the ministers do who have four congregations. When- 
ever I do not preach in this or that church on a Sunday, the 
schoolmaster must conduct the catechization, according to my 
direction, as he conducts the schools during the winter. I instruct 
and confirm the youth twice a year, in spring and fall; one year 
in one, the next in the other congregations. 

I baptize the children in the church, whenever I preach, 
iinless they are sick. Most of the marriages are solemnized at 
my house or in the church where I preach, because my congrega- 
tions want to spare me as much as possible. The funerals 
cause me, at times, the hardest work. 

If my members cannot accommodate themselves to me, they 
ask the Lutheran minister, as I have many Lutheran funerals." 

Finally the two congregations found the need of a larger 
building and called a general meeting to be held at the Court 
House whereat the following articles of agreement were entered 
into: 

ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT made and concluded upon 
at Easton, in the county of Northampton and the province of 
Pennsylvania, the nineteenth day of March Anno 1774, between 
the two German Protestant congregations in Easton aforesaid 
to wit, the Lutheran and Presbyterian congregations in manner 
and form following, that is to say, first, that the members of 
both said congregations in do agree to build a church together 
jointly for the use of said congregations in Easton aforesaid 
upon the two lots where the German school house now stands 
viz, on lot No. 70 and J2 unto the following foundation, viz. : that 
any Protestant preacher or minister of the Gospel shall have 
liberty to do public worship in the said church at any time, when 
the preachers or ministers of the said Lutheran and Presbyter- 
ian congregations does not do public worship therein, provided 
they have leave granted them from the trustees or elders for the 
time being of both said congregations and provided also that no 
other preacher or minister or congregation or any other persons 

[ III ] 



whatsoever shall have any title, claim or demand whatsoever to 
the said church, but onl}^ the said tv/o Lutheran and Presbyter- 
ian, Easton Congregations. Secondly, It is agreed upon by both 
said congregations that if hereafter it shall appear to them, that 
the church now intended to be built should be too small to contain 
the members of both said congregations, that the said church 
shall be valued and appraised by indifferent and impartial men to 
be chosen by the members of both said congregations, and to 
whatever of the said congregations lot of the said church shall 
happen. Do promise and agree .to and with the other congregation 
to pay to them the one half of the said valuation of cash towards 
building another church. Thirdly, The members of both said 
Lutheran and Presbyterian Easton congregations to choose and 
appoint Abraham Labar, Lewis Knouse, Christopher Bitten- 
bender, John Simon, Plenry Barnet and Mathias Miller to be 
trustees in order to build and finish the said church hereby 
giving them said trustees full power and authority to agree with 
all the workmen and to fmd all materials fit for the said church 
building and the carrying on the same. For this purpose, we 
the members of the both said congregations, do hereby promise 
and agree to and with the said trustees to adjust them in cash 
and all other necessaries according to our circumstances at what 
time the same shall be demanded of us until such time as the 
said church is completely erected and finished. And we do 
further agree with one another, that all and every article herein 
mentioned shall be observed and kept firmly as herein set forth. 
And v/e do also agree that this article of agreement shall be 
subscribed by the before named six trustees in the name and 
on the behalf of both said congregations. 

This alliance appeared to be satisfactory and they began 
immediately to construct the building and the corner-stone was 
laid with great ceremony in June, 1775. The final dedication 
took place in the year 1776. 

The builder of the church was Philip Becker. 

STORY OF THE BECKER ESTATE 

Prior to the American Revolution there lived at a place 
called Seven Bridges, in the Province of Hesse-Cassel, Germany, 
a Roman Catholic family by the name of Becker. The children 
were Philip, an architect, builder and mason ; Jacob, a physician ; 
another brother was a Catholic divine and officiated at the Cathe- 
dral ; two sisters, devout Catholic nuns, favorites of their brother, 
the bishop, completed the family. Philip, the eldest, was also a 
musician of note and was the organist and choir leader of the 
Cathedral. During the great religious upheaval of this period 
the family became divided. Philip and Jacob changed their creed 

[ 112 ] 



and became Lutherans- The bishop and the two sisters remained 
steadfast to the reHgion of the fathers and after their bishop 
brother's death the sisters entered a convent, where they ended 
their days. Philip was a very devout Christian and, not wishing 
to compromise his brother, decided to emigrate to America and 
with his wife, son John Jacob, daughter Elizabeth and youngest 
child Magdalena, aged six weeks, embarked on the ship^ 
"Minerva" at Rotterdam and arrived at Philadelphia October 
13, 1769. They remained in Philadelphia until the arrival of 
John Peter, their oldest son, October i, 1770, when they moved' 
to Easton, making their home in a log house that stood imme- 
diately opposite the north end of the Bushkill Street bridge. The 
building is now a part of the residence of Mrs. Ellen Beck. 

Philip was no ordinary man. His musical talents being of 
no benefit in a new community, he turned his attention to build- 
ing and constructed many of the stone buildings in and around' 
Easton. It was during the stormy period in Easton's religious- 
circles that he suggested to the Lutherans the idea of building a 
church, and in 1775 designed and built the Union Building, the- 
present First Reformed Church. The interior was patterned 
after his brother's cathedral in Hesse-Cassell. He also built twO' 
other churches in the country roundabout. He served during- 
the Revolutionary War as a private in the Forks Township. 
Militia under Col. John Nicholas Kemmerer. He was also a. 
member of Col. Anthony Lerch's famous Saucon Cavalry, in the.- 
Ranger service during the last days of the Revolution. 

Jacob, his brother, was a surgeon of one of the regiments- 
in the Hessian army and was, therefore, compelled to accompany 
the regiment on its expedition to America in the interest of the 
British cause. After his arrival at New York he tendered his 
resignation as surgeon of the regiment and immediately started 
on foot across New Jersey to Easton to visit his brother and to 
locate there if prospects were favorable to his profession. Find- 
ing the town well taken care of by Dr. Richer and his pupil',, 
young Dr. Ledley, he then went to Bethlehem, presented himself 
to Dr. Otto and this noted physician immediately appointed him^ 
as his assistant, detailed to do surgical work at the hospital in 
Bethlehem. He was a member of Dr. Otto's household and 
married the doctor's niece, Mrs. Dailing, the widow of a sea 
captain, who was on a visit to her uncle. After the Revolution 
he worked up a practice in the territory lying between Bethlehem' 
and Quakertown, Pa., making his home at the latter place, where 
some ten years later his wife became insane and was removed tO' 
a private asylum, in which was also confined the wife of Stephen 
Girard, of Philadelphia. These two lived in companionship and 
were firm friends after their recovery. Dr. Becker after a few 

[ 113 ] 



years, believing his wife to be incurable, secured a divorce and 
married a lady from near Easton. He then removed to Sunbury, 
Pa., where he died about 1813, leaving ten children. Two of his 
sons, Charles and Jacob, eventually became the founders of the 
wholesale business house of Baker in Philadelphia. Three other 
sons were physicians. 

During and after the Revolution Philip's family apparently 
were constanly on the move and seldom at home. His oldest 
son, John Peter, was a state surveyor and operated in the 
western part of Pennsylvania. John Jacob, the other son, who 
had learned to be a practitioner under his Uncle Jacob, was a 
surgeon in the United States Army. The oldest daughter, Eliza- 
beth, was married to a Mr. Smith, and lived at Hellertown, Pa. 
Philip, the father, probably traveled to distant parts following 
his vocation of architect and builder. His wife was a regular 
communicant of the Lutheran Church at Easton. Philip must 
surely have been traveling, as his name is not recorded in any 
of the lists of communicants. This omission can be accounted 
for in no other way as he was a very devout member of the 
Lutheran Church. In the year 1786 Philip concluded to migrate 
and, placing his youngest child, Magdalena, aged fifteen, in 
charge of his old commander, Colonel Kemmerer, he, with his 
wife, plunged into the wilderness, making his home on a tract 
of 400 acres on the Potomac River in Maryland, opposite Sharps- 
burg, Va., where he founded the place now known as Bakerville, 
having assumed the name of Baker, as did also his two sons. 

Philip had a favorite cousin in Germany, who had also for- 
saken the Catholic faith of his fathers, and became a preacher 
in the Reformed church, emigrating to America in 1793. He 
assumed charge of the Reformed congregation at Easton. This 
was the Reverend Christian Ludwig Becker, one of the most 
eloquent preachers of his day. As the congregation at this place 
was but a handful of quarrelsome people, he remained but a 
short time and removed to Lancaster, Pa. Finally Philip induced 
him to remove to Maryland by building at Bakerville the hand- 
somest stone church in Maryland and presented it to the two 
congregations worshiping there. The Reverend Becker made 
his home at Baltimore, where he became the most renowned 
minister in the Reformed church. 

Philip remained at Bakerv^ille, making one visit to his daugh- 
ter Magdalena in the year 1805. He died June 4, 1809, and was 
buried in the churchyard adjoining the fine building that he gave 
to the congregation. His grave was neglected and today there 
is not even a marker to show the precise spot. 

Magdalena Becker found a good home with Colonel Kemmerer 
and a few years later was married to his son Jacob. Esquire 

[ 114 ] 




At Brotzman and Hester Mill-Home of the Miller Old Foot Bridge— About 1800 




The Lutheran and Reformed School House, 
Erected 1778. (Photo 1911) 



Jacob Kemmerer and his wife passed all their days on the old 
honiestearl in Forks Township, rearing a fine family of children, 
whose descendants are numerous among the prominent families 
in Eastern Pennsylvania. They were: Jacob, Reverend William 
B., Elizabeth (who married a Lesher), Anna Maria (married a 
Messinger), Julia (married a Moorej, Sophia (married a Mark- 
ley), Louisa (married a Heckman), Magdalena and Susan never 
married, Anna, died an infant. 

After the Revolutionary War, when Gen. Arthur St. Clair 
organized his expedition under the government to open the 
Northwest territory for settlement, he appointed John Peter 
Becker his surveyor and John Jacob Becker his surgeon. These 
two men were accustomed to the hardships of frontier life, hav- 
ing served as frontier rangers during the Revolution. John 
Peter, when out surveying, would occasionlly survey and enter 
in his own name choice tracts of land and also in the name of his 
brother John Jacob, often under the name of John Baker, also 
as Jacob ]>aker. John Peter, after a time, discontinued the use 
of the name Peter and was known as John and the doctor be- 
came known as Jacob. Jacob had entered in his name more than 
4,000 acres in western Pennsylvania alone, hundreds of acres in 
Ohio, also in Indiana, Illinois and West Virginia. Much of the.se 
vast tracts of land contained coal, but Jacob had passed away 
long before this was discovered. John's hundreds of choice tracts 
also became in time very valuable; oil lands in Indiana, coal in 
Ohio, pine timber in Pennsylvania. 

Jacob had property in Philadelphia, also in what is now 
Kensington. His sister, Magdalena Kemmerrer, often remarked 
that her brother Jacob was a very, very wealthy man, but cared 
very little for his vast wealth, preferring to practice his profes- 
sion. His property on Market Street, Philadelphia, he leased for 
ninety-nine years. His Kensington lands were evidently over- 
looked. 

These two brothers apparently preferred their professions to 
becoming men of family, never marrying, and in due course of 
tinie passed to the great beyond. They made no di.sposition of 
their vase estates. John was buried at Dayton, O., and Jacob 
near Pittsburgh, Pa. They left no direct issue and their nearest 
relatives were their two sisters, Elizabeth Smith and Magdalena 
Kemmerer, neither of whom were sufficiently interested to even 
make an investigation, living on to the end of their days in happy 
contentment. However, the next generation took up the matter, 
but this long delay was the means of losing this immense fortune, 
as there were no living witnesses to prove the claim to the prop- 
erty and no evidence of any kind to prove relationship. Their 
first investigation disclosed the fact that about 1820 someone 

[ 115 ] 



under the name of Baker had negotiated with the State of Penn- 
sylvania whereby the State became owners of part of the lands 
within its boundary for a sum aggregating over a million dollars. 
Who this person was that buncoed the State out of a cool million 
will probably never be known. The officials of the State in 
transaction have passed away and nothing remains of the deal 
but the record, which advances no information. But even with 
this slice cut out there is sufficient left to satisfy the heirs, as 
it is variously estimated at between $200,000,000 and $300,- 
000,000. 

There has been no evidence as yet to prove not only claim 
to the property, but even the relationship existing between these 
brothers and sisters. All family records, if there were any, have 
become lost. There is even nothing to prove that the two broth- 
ers Baker were the original two brothers Becker and at this late 
day is nothing more than traditionary. All the official records 
of the surveyor-general's office and also those in the office of the 
surgeon-general prior to the year 18 10, which covers the govern- 
ment, were unfortunatel)'^ destroyed at the time the British army 
burned the public buildings at W'ashington, D. C, during the 
war of 1812. This complex condition of affairs has been a great 
source of revenue to some lawyers, who were instrumental in 
forming many of these Becker family organizations, calling to- 
gether the descendants of Jacob Baker, a Revolutionary soldier, 
who is supposed to have left property which had grown very 
valuable and was unclaimed. As there were several Jacob 
Bakers in the Revolutionary army, these legal gentry had quite a 
profitable practice. One of these bold operators had the temerity 
to call a meeting of the heirs of Jacob Baker in Philadelphia for 
the purpose of laying claim to the ground on which the City Hall 
stands. It has never been ascertained just what amount of money 
he realized on this transaction. About this time the authorities 
of the city of Philadelphia stepped in and issued a statement to 
the effect that there was no estate in Philadelphia awaiting a 
claimant. 

The descendants of the sister, Magdalena, refrained from 
taking part in any of the proceedings of these organizations of 
Baker heirs and have remained quiet by reason of their inability 
to prove the relationship between their ancestor Magdalena 
Kemmerer and her two brothers, John Peter Becker and John 
Jacob Becker, either as Becker or Baker. There is not one line 
of writing that would be legally accepted by any court of justice. 

The two Easton congregations worshipped harmoniously 
in the new church for several years, during which time the un- 
ruly element or what was left of the old Reformed congregation 

[ 116 ] 



,nnarentlv ceased to exist as a congregation. There is no record 
of them during the first years of the Revolutionary War, prob- 
ablv tteir fighfing procli^^ties carried them to the front or lie 
people's attention-was attracted to passing events of the Revolu- 

''°%rr :nfdep!nd:nce, evidently, taught these people 
r "^rthrtlhl^EngHs^P^X^na:: Jo^rs'hlVd in°tL"ot 
?otschol-et<^^^^^^^^^^ """^' '" '™ congregations, 

''^^Tt';nvitetve''n^"- Protestant preacher to use the 

The meals which he furnished for his workmen were cooked at 
h's house 'and were brought all the way to Ea^t- a^d serv^ 
but whether these meals were served hot or cold tradition sayeth 

''°'" Meixell accepted Continental currency i", P^!^^^"^/^^ 
contract and the depreciation of this currency left Meixell widi 
mtle or nothine for his labors. A Mr. Kempsmg was the first 
^tSlT in' ^SVew school. The, expenses of m-tain^^^^^^^ was 

r.fer:nt;rtLtrlctiJ^ of the union Academy, which stoo 
on the site of the present High School bui ding ^h^/^^\^^| 
building was demolished to make room foi the building now 
u^ed as^a Sunday School by the Reformed congregation 

About the year 1790, Anthony Butler, attorney for the 
Pennf on Ws tour through the state, looking for unsold land 
beSng to the Penns, f Sund three tracts in Easton, m posses- 
sion of these two Ge;man congregations. One, the two lots 
whereon the church stands, the other the two lots, the corner of 
Fou th and Ferry, used by the Lutherans for a burying ground ; 
the third was the town cemetery on Church Street between Fifth 
and Sixth (Library Square), in charge of the Reformed congre- 
gation Mr. Butler astonished the citizens by laying claim to 
fhese three properties and notified the trustees to vacate. A 
oint congregational meeting was held and a committee appointed 
wSi TacSb Arndt, Jr., president of the Reformed consistory, as 
S cliirman to vis^ John Penn of Philadelphia for the purpose 



[ 117 1 



of securing title to these properties. John Penn received them 
kindly and gave assurance that the two congregations would not 
be disturbed in their possessions. But no final actions were 
taken by the Penns until 1802, when a deed was granted con- 
veying the three tracts to Peter Snyder, Nicholas Troxel and 
Nicholas Kern, trustees for the Reformed and Jacob Weygand, 
George William Roup and Conrad Bittenbender, trustees for 
the Lutheran congregation. 

The Lutherans assumed charge of and buried their dead in 
the lot on Ferry Street and the Reformed did likewise with the 
Town Cemetery. But the tract on which the church stands was 
held in common by both. A Reformed could not be buried in 
the Lutheran lot and neither could a Lutheran in that of the 
Reformed. Apparently it never occurred to these people that 
inter-marriages in these two congregations might occur and that, 
in the case of death, the husband and wife might desire to have 
their remains lie in the same cemetery. The first generations 
had few such marriages but among the second, they were more 
numerous. This unwritten law regarding burial was often ignored 
and many funerals were held in which strategy was used ; in 
some instances, they resorted to violence. This engendered many 
bitter feelings among the members of the two congregations. 

In the year 1807 the two congregations became incorporated, 
the Lutherans under the title of the "German Evangelical Luth- 
eran congregation of Easton," and the Reformed as "the German 
Reformed congregation of Easton." The idea of these exclusive 
burials was not shared to a great extent by the Reformed. The 
Lutherans, apparently, were the aggressors as under date of 
June 26th, 1810, a meeting of the Consistory of the Reformed 
congregation was held at which the following resolutions were 
passed : 

RESOLVED — That the members of the German Evangeli- 
cal Reformed Congregation have an equal right with the members 
of the German Evangelical Lutheran Congregation to bury their 
dead in both burial places in the Borough of Easton, and that 
the Reformed Congregation defend and support its individual 
members in the enjoyment of this right. 

RESOLVED — That if the Lutheran Congregation makes 
an attempt to hinder or exclude any member of the Reformed 
Congregation from the burial place (lying at the corner of 
Hamilton and Ferry streets) from being buried that then the 
Reformed Congregation shall exercise its proper right through 
entrance upon aforenamed burial ground and through the burial 
of their dead in the same, in such a manner and at such place as 
shall be indicated and prescribed by a committee appointed for 
such purpose. 

[ 118 ] 



While the Lutherans, to a certain degree, complied in ac- 
cordance with this resolution, they were not in full sympathy 
and as there was only one entrance to the cemetery, which was 
kept locked and the key zealously guarded by the Lutherans, the 
Reformed undertook to make a gate to it for their own con- 
venience. However they were not allowed to complete it by 
reason of a war-like demonstration on the part of the Lutherans. 
Consequently, on November i8, iSio, at a general meeting of 
the Evangelical Reformed congregation, Mr. Philip Odenwelder 
reported that he attempted to make a gate in the lower church- 
yard in the town of Easton, but abandoned his purpose owing 
to a promise by the Lutherans to arrange it in some other man- 
ner. Mr. Odenwelder reported further that Air. Michael Opp 
agreed to submit the matter to the judges of the court and that 
he would report the action of the Lutheran Church Council 
upon the subject, without delay to the Consistory of the Re- 
formed congregation. Whereupon 

RESOLVED — That we will wait for the action of the 
Lutheran Church Council until the following Tuesday. 

RESOLVED — That Messrs. Jacob Arndt and Christian 
Butz shall be a committee that shall have full power to defend 
before the Courts the right of the Reformed Congregation to the 
said Church yard. 

RESOLVED — That the president of the Reformed Congre- 
gation shall notify the president of the Lutheran Congregation 
of the above resolutions. 

It is testified that the above is a true copy of the Minutes. 
Attest : THOMAS POMP, Sec. 




.Vaj,^ 







1 Vft'nwjf iC*)"v(^ 
'ihl''**™'''"""'' 




First Stone Bridge Crossing the Bushkill at Lehicton St. 

[ 119 ] 



Shortly after this period, arrangements were made whereby 
a Lutheran could be buried in the Reformed cemetery and a Re- 
formed in that of the Lutherans by paying double rate for such 
interment. This only made matters more complicated as the 
people objected to this double rate and caused the undertaker 
great annoyance. This important personage was Mordici 
Churchman, the only one in the town. He, at last, becoming 
weary of these controversies, sought relief by requesting a com- 
promise or some arrangement whereby funerals could be held 
with less difficulty. Finally the matter was considered by both 
•congregations and the following resolution passed: 

Whereas certain controversies unhappily exist between the 
•said parties of and concerning the right, title, interest, use, prop- 
erty or possession which the said parties respectively claim and 
demand to have of in to or out of two certain lots of ground 
situated in the borough of Easton in the County of Northampton 
and Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. 

NOW THIS INDENTURE WITNESSETH that for the 
amicable adjustment, settlement and determination of the said 
controversy and for the re-establishment and preservation of 
peace and concord between the said parties, they, the said parties 
have agreed and by these presents do agree for themselves and 
their successors respectively each with the other that all matters 
and things whatsoever had made, arisen, moved or now depend- 
ing in dispute or controversy between them or and concerning 
the premises or in any manner relating thereto be submitted to 
the award, arbitrament, order, judgment, final end and deter- 
mination of Mordecai Churchman, Daniel Stroud and George 
Palmer, Esquires, arbitrators indifferently named, elected and 
chosen by the said parties or of any two of them so that the said 
arbitrators or two of them do make their award, order, final 
determination and judgment in the premises in writing indented 
under their hands and seals shall make the said award on or 
before the Twelfth Day of August in the year of our Lord, One 
Thousand Eight Hundred and Twelve and one part thereof 
deliver or cause to be delivered to the President of the Church 
Council or vestry of the said German Reformed Congregation of 
Easton, the other part thereof deliver or cause to be delivered to 
the President of the Church Council or Vestry of the said Ger- 
man Evangelical Lutheran Congregation of Easton. And it is 
further agreed by and between the said parties that the said 
arbitrators shall have full power and authority to order, direct, 
appoint and award such disposition or partition, as shall be 
deemed just and equitable in relation to the merits of the said 
controversy and the pretentions of the said parties respectively 
or expedient for the establishment and preservation of harmony, 

[ i-'o ] 



peace and concord between them hereafter. And agree each 
with the other by these presents that the said parties or either of 
them will not, at any time, hereafter revoke this present agree- 
mnt of submission or the authority thereby given to the said 
arbitrators, but shall and will in all things acquiese and submit 
themselves to their award and arbitrament in the premises. In 
testimony thereof the said parties have hereunto interchangeably 
affixed the corporate seals of the said corporations respectively 
the day and year just before written. 

Jacob Akndt, Pres. 
Attest: Thomas Pomp, Sec. 

In accordance with the above, the arbitrators, on August 12, 
181 1, made the award to the effect that each congregation was 
to maintain its own burial ground and interments permissible in 
either one and no extra charges exacted. For a while matters ran 
some years later and an appeal was made to the Court. It was 
then discovered that neither of these congregations was the 
owner of the property in dispute. Ownership was vested in the 
name of Jacob Kern, sole legatee of his father, Nicholas Kern, 
the last surviving member of the trustees to whom the property 
had been deeded by the Penns. Jacob Kern then deeded the prop- 
erties to the two congregations with the understanding that they 
must abide by the decision of the Board of Arbitrators. Finally, 
in 1832, the Lutherans relinquished their rights in the joint 
church property according to the original agreement and pur- 
chased of Frederick Wilhelm two lots on Ferry Street, adjoining 
their burial grounds, and built thereon the large church building, 
still standing, known as St. John's Lutheran Church. Here, the 
English speaking members of the congregation formed themselves 
into a separate body, under the name of St. John, and a double 
service was inaugurated. This was continued for a number of 
years, the English increasing very rapidly and they soon became 
the predominant body. The Germans were then assigned a 
preacher of their own. This continued unsatisfactorily until 
1873 when an agreement was entered into to separate. The 
graveyard at this time became very valuable and this was assigned 
to the German congregation as their portion. This was sold and, 
with the proceeds, was purchased the property on North Fifth 
Street, where they still exist today as the German Evangelical 
Lutheran congregation, the oldest religious congregation in 
Easton. 

We will now continue our journey down North Third Street, 
the principal residential thoroughfare, the gateway to classic 
Easton. On it, have lived many people of prominence. Their 
biographies are found in all published works on local history. 
Our car is now at Third and Spring Garden streets. The section 

[ 121 ] 



eastward of this point was not of much importance, either for 
residence or business, until the arrival of Anthony Butler in 
1790, when the unsold lots were disposed of in a short time. The 
principal buyer was Samuel Sitgreaves, a noted attorney, and he 
erected here, on the northeast corner, a very commodious dwell- 
ing for that period. The building is still standing and is now 
knov/n as the Arlington. On the rear end of the lot, where now 
is the brick residence and store of J. P. Michler, he had erected a 
frame building in which he transacted his law business. Sit- 
greaves was one of the few book collectors of that period. He 
v\^as instrumental in forming the Easton Library Co. in the year 
1810, and presented all his books and the use of his office for the 
enterprise. The library remained here until the erection of their 
own building on Second Street. This latter building is now the 
office of the Board of Education. Many of these books were 
rare volumes of American History and these formed the nucleus 
of what is today one of the greatest collections of Americana in 
the United States, and now occupy a special room in the Easton 
Public Library. Next to Sitgreaves' office was the home and 
work shop of Henry Derringer, one of the gun makers of the 
Revolution. It was Derringer's son who was the inventor of the 
famous Derringer Pistols used all over the world as the proper 
fire-arms for fighting duels. 

On the northwest corner of Third and Spring Garden streets 
stands Easton's largest hotel, the Karldon. This house had its 
beginning in 1806 when Philip Slough, Jr., a blacksmith from 
Bethlehem Township, desiring to retire from business, went to 
Easton, purchased this corner lot and erected thereon a stone 
hotel. After conducting the business for about a year he dis- 
covered that the hotel business was rather strenuous for a retired 
blacksmith. He then transferred the hotel to his son and in 1808 
he erected the stone house, still standing, on the rear of the lot, 
corner of Bank Street. Here he lived in retirement for about a 
year, then evidently finding that this sort of an existence was 
not in accord with his former vocation, built a blacksmith shop 
between the house and hotel. Later, this business was trans- 
ferred to the rear of the lot, fronting on Bank Street, and was 
conducted by the family for several generations and finally be- 
came incorporated as the Easton Foundry and Machine Com- 
pany, with an extensive plant at the west end of Easton, along 
the Lehigh, destroyed by a conflagration in the year 1909, ter- 
minating a business that had a successful existence for just one 
hundred years. 

[ 122 ] 




ON SPRING GARDEN STREET AT THE CORNER OF THIRD 

1 2 3 

1. Road on Mt. Jefferson. 2. Philip Slough's Hotel. 3. Residence of Samuel Sltgreaves 




Monument nt Lafayette College to the Student Body Who Went to the Front 1861-1865 



THE FIRST COLLEGE BUILDING, NOW SOUTH COLLEGE, ERECTED 1833 
ON MOUNT WASHINGTON. 

April 30, 1833. 

Our readers will learn with pleasure that the Trustees o£ 
Lafayette College are proceeding to build in earnest. Failing 
to obtain Legislative aid, our people have put their shoulders to 
the wheel and are. about to rear a stately edifice, 112 feet front 
and 44 feet deep, on Mount Washington, north of the Bushkill 
Creek, facing the Court House to be three stories high, with an 
attic. The whole to be rough cast. 

July 4, 1833. 

The recent anniversary of our independence was celebrated 
with more than its usual interest to us of Easton. The morning 
was ushered in by a gun at day break from Mount Jefferson, with 
the reveille. At sun rise a salute was fired by the Citizen Volun- 
teers, and all the bells of our town set in motion with their merry 
peal. The weather, which had been threatening and stormy for 
the preceding days, was clear and not unpleasantly warm. The 
Easton Troop, Capt. Yard, and the Citizen Volunteers, Capt. 
Butz, paraded at their respective quarters at 8 o'clock. 

The procession for laying the corner stone of Lafayette 
College was formed at the Court House square at half past 9 
o'clock, under the direction of Col. J. M. Porter, Chief Marshal, 
in the following order : 



Easton Troop. 



Citizen Volunteers (Artillery). 
The Williams Tovvniship Artillery. 
The Soldiers of the Revolution. 

The Clergy, preceded by Messrs. Ligersoll and Wolf. 
The Judges of the Court and Gentlemen of the Bar. 
The Corporation of the Borough of Easton, with the 
Chief Burgess at its head. 

8. The Superintendent of the building, carrying the box 
to be deposited in the corner-stone, with the marble mason and 
workmen engaged at the building, carrying their tools. 

9. The Citizen's Band, under the direction of Mr. Peter 
Pomp. 

10. The faculty and students of the College. 

11. The Easton Beneficial Society. 

12. The Citizens generally. 

The procession was formed at the Court House and was 
put in motion at about a quarter before 10 o'clock. It proceeded 
up Northampton to Hamilton (Fourth) Street, thence along 
Hamilton to Bushkill, thence along Bushkill street to the stone 

[ 123 ] 



bridge over that stream, thence along the Wind-gap road to the 
road (Sullivan's Road) leading up the hill in the rear of the 
college, and thence to the new edifice. 

On arriving at the ground it was found that, notwithstand- 
ing the numbers in the procession, there was yet a greater num- 
ber who had mounted the steep ascent in front and had assembled 
themselves in and around the building. With some difficulty the 
space around the scaffold or stage was cleared off, and the cere- 
mony of laying the stone proceeded. 

May I, 1834. 

On Thursday, the first inst., the first term of this college 
commenced in the new building. We believe all the rooms are 
finished so as to be fit for occupation, except the fourteen in the 
fourth or attic story, which will not be fit to occupy under a 
fortnight. 

The commencement of the collegiate exercises in the new 
college, was used as the occasion for the formal installation of 
the professors. At ten o'clock a large audience was assembled 
in the large hall of the college, when the board of trustees with 
the faculty, entered and took possession of the platform erected 
for the occasion. 

The Rev. Mr. Candy of Belvidere, N. J., opened with prayer, 
after which the choir under the direction of Mr. C. F. Worrell, 
sung the invocatory hymn : "Father all Glorious." 

Col. J. M. Porter, president of the board of trustees, de- 
livered a short address to the public, and installed and charged 
the portion of the faculty then present, who were fully announced 
with the places of their nativity, etc. 

The Rev. George Junkin, D. D., a native of Cumberland 
County, Pensylvania, graduate of Jefferson College, president 
and professor of mental and moral philosophy, logic, rhetoric 
and the evidences of Christianity. 

Mr. James J. Coon, a native of Allegheny County, Pa., 
graduate of Jefferson College, professor of the Latin and Greek 
languages. 

Mr. Samuel Galloway, a native of Northampton County, 
Pa., graduate of Princeton College, professor of mathematics and 
natural philosophy. 

Mr. Frederick Schmidt, a graduate of the university of 
Erlangen, instructor in the German language for the present. 

The illumination in front of the college, was splendid — we 
know not that we have ever seen anything more brilliant. The 
candles having been prepared, at the given signal, a little past 8 
o'clock were lighted nearly simultaneously, and in less than a 
minute 720 candles, being one for each pane of glass in the 

[ 124 ] 



sixty windows in the front of the building, were blazing. This 
was continued for about one hour, when they were almost as 
expeditiously extinguished. 

Nearly our whole population were in the streets to see it. 

September 9, 1835. 

FOR SALE WINDOW SASH^ aS folloWS, viz : 

8 inches hy 10, per light, 5^ cents. 

10 inches by 12, per light, 5/2 cents. 

13 inches by 14, per light, 6^ cents. 

Same, made of i>2 inch stuff, 8 cents. 

Also a few Ploughs, Deel's patent cutters. 

Also, Venetian window blinds of different sizes and prices. 

All the above are warranted good. 

It it hoped that builders or owners of buildings will find it 
to their interest in giving us orders for worked floor boards, 
panelled doors, Venetian window shutters, etc. We think it 
reasonable, especially, that the farmers should encourage us with 
a share of their work, as we live by consuming their produce, 

Johnson Godown, 
Business Agent. 

September 22, 1836. 

FIRST COMMENCEMENT OF LAFAYETTE COLLEGE. 

The first commencement for conferring degrees by this in- 
stitution was held at this place on the 22nd instant. 

At 10 o'clock A. M. a large proportion of the intelligence 
of our population was assembled at the Presbyterian Church to 
see and hear all that was to be seen or heard on this most inter- 
esting occasion. 

After music from the choir and a prayer by Dr. Junkin, 
President of the College, William Rawle, Esq., of Philadelphia, 
the orator of the day, delivered an address, of the style and 
matter of which there was but one opinion — it was excellent, 
and to those who had not the pleasure to hear we can say, read 
it and duly appreciate its contents. 

The candidates recently composing the senior class, then 
delivered original addresses in the following order: 

Mr. Nathaniel B. Smithers, of Maryland, in English; Mr. 
David Moore, of Chester County, in Latin and Greek; Mr. 
George W. Kidd, of Maryland, in English and Mr. James B. 
Ramsay, of Philadelphia, the valedictory, in English. 

Dr. Junkin then delivered an address to the graduates after 
conferring upon them the degree of Bachelor of Arts, and it was 
then announced that the following honorary degrees had been 
conferred : 

[ 125 ] 



Doctor of Divinity upon the Rev. John G. Herman of Naza- 
reth and upon the Rev. John Witherspoon, of South Carolina. 

Doctor of Laws upon the Hon. Jos. R. Ingersoll, of Phila- 
delphia. 

The intervals were filled in by music from the choir, among 
which was an original ode for the occasion, composed by a lady 
of Easton. 

The ceremony closed by a benediction from President 
Junkin. 

In the evening we learn that the undergraduates occasioned 
lots of fun and amusement by their performance at the College 
Hall, to a large and over-flowing auditory, of numerous dialogues, 
etc. 

October 7, 1837. 

On Saturday last we received as a present from Lafayette 
College a cabbage head weighing upwards of 28 pounds, a sugar 
beet of enormous size and three onions larger than a good-sized 
tin cup. Whether the first of the articles was intended as a cor- 
respondence to our own head or to show that they had cabbage 
heads, as well as wise heads, on the college hill, we are not in- 
formed, but the articles all show careful gardening on good soil. 
Indeed, we have rarely seen so fine a vegetable garden or one in 
better order than that of the college. 

The aforesaid cabbage, after keeping it at our office until 
today for exhibition, we have consigned it to our craut tub, and 
we shall, in a short time, test the saccharine qualities of the beet, 
and, if we can get a good tripe from one of our victualling 
butchers, we shall try the succulent qualities of the onions there- 
with. 

March 13, 1*839. 

Great excitement prevails in the northern part of our Coun- 
try in relation to an application of Lafayette College for addi- 
tional appropriation from the State, to that institution. A few 
years ago Lafayette College received $12,000 out of the State 
funds, and at a large meeting held in Upper Mount Bethel on 
the 22nd instant, the further appropriation of $50,000 is very 
justly objected to, for the reasons given in the folio v/ing quota- 
tions from the proceedings published in the last Easton Sentinel : 

The meeting remonstrates against the appropriation of 
$28,000 for the erection of additional buildings on the hill. 

The meeting remonstrates against the application of Dr. 
Junkin for a subscription by the State of 12,000 copies of the 
"Educator" at an expense of $12,000 of the people's money. 

The meeting objects to the loan of $10,000 to the students 
of said College. 

Resolved, That v^^e look on the "Educator" with contempt, 

[ 126 ] 











t North 3rd Street Bridge and En- 
p trance to Grounds of Lafayette 

College 1887 



that small 7 by 9 paper, filled with all kinds of uninteresting 
matter, at the enormous sum of $12,000 a year and which Dr. 
Junkin endeavors to make us pay. He would better apply to the 
Legislature at once to pass a law to have his Church (College) 
supported by the State — the public will then know what he is 
after. 

Resolved, That we did not vote for J. M. Porter to be Gov- 
ernor of the East, nor to be at Harrisburg to Legislate. 

Resolved, That we have a poor opinion of Dr. Junkin. 

Resolved, That we disapprove of the course taken by Rich- 
ard Brodhead in facilitating the petition for Lafayette College 
— we will not send him there for such a purpose or to be a tool 
for such a mean institution and shaving shop. 

Resolved, That we disapprove of the granting to Lafayette 
College of $62,000 of the hard earnings of the farmers and 
mechanics to be raised at some future time in the shape of a 
State Tax to keep up a private manufacturing establishment and 
its officers, which is an outrage upon .the people's rights. 

Many of our readers perhaps are not aware of the existence 
of such a paper as the "Educator" alluded to above, and we 
would therefore observe that it is edited and printed at Lafayette 
College — appears every other week — is small but neatly executed 
— devoted to Education, Agriculture, Puffs, etc. Price $1 per 
annum. If our Democratic Legislators feel warranted, notwith- 
standing the enormous State debt of from 30 to 40 million of 
dollars, to extend their liberality to the press, we would suggest 
the more Democratic mode of disposing of the $12,000, viz : That 
$3000 be subscribed to each of the English papers in the County. 
And Mr. Editor of the "Mud Chunk Courier" don't be bashful, 
and give us your opinion upon this Democratic measure. 

October 23, 1839. 

The Editor of the Sentinel states that he was shown some 
of the Rohan Potatoes raised by Dr. Junkin, of Lafayette Col- 
lege, and that they were remarkable for size and beauty. 

We can bear testimony to all that our neighbor of the Sen- 
tinel has asserted, and go a step farther — we not only saw som.e 
of them but also tested their qualities, having been presented 
with some for that purpose, and found them equal if not superior 
to the best MERCER. As we know that our neighbor is fond 
of good things and we have several of them undemolished, we 
herewith tender him the thing polite for the day on which they 
are to be served up. 

We are informed that Dr. Junkin has about 180 bushels of 
them for sale, for the purpose of cultivation. Our farmers and 

[ 127 ] 



gardeners would do well to provide themselves with some, as 
their yield is much greater than that of any other potato, while 
their quality, generally, is superior. 

We now proceed towards College Hill, on the brow of which 
are the extensive grounds and buildings of Lafayette College, a 
noted institution of learning. Midway, on the hillside, is em- 
blazoned within the foliage, the picturesque memorial of the 
student body, sacrificed in the War of the Rebellion. Our car is 
now standing on the bridge that spans the Bushkill Creek (the 
Indians called this creek Lechauheisen, which was corrupted into 
Lehicton, while the early Holland explorers called it Bushkill by 
which name it is now commonly known.) Directly in front of 
us, is a modern grist mill. On the facade can be traced the 
original structure, built in the year 1790 by John Broteman and 
John Hester, progressive men of that period. At that time, there 
was no bridge here. Access to the .mill was had from the one 
further up the stream, known as the Bushkill Street bridge. 
From this bridge, a road led down the north side of the creek to 
the mill, now known as Delaware Street, a public thoroughfare 
two blocks long, and used by the town for over one hundred years 
without the expenditure of one cent of public funds for main- 
tenance. The road leading up the hill and the one leading east- 
wardly to the Delaware, are comparatively modern. In fact, the 
entire College Hill as a settlement, is of a later development. As 
we ascend the hill, we get a grand, extensive view of the old 
town. 

Passing the College grounds, we continue on Cattell, a thick- 
ly settled street, woodland in early days, until we reach the 
vicinity of what is now Burke Street. Northward of this and 
just outside of the boundaries of the original Thousand Acre 
Tract, is still standing the log home of Elias Dietrich, erected 
about 1760. 

Our car is now standing on the corner of Burke and Cattell 
streets. Westward, down in the valley, in plain view is the old 
stone mansion of the Wagners and opposite, the stone home of 
Andrew Ripple, whose red pump was a landmark for over one 
hundred and fifty years. The road leading from this pump up 
the hill, crossing Sullivan Street, continuing to Cattell Street, 
thence making an angle, continuing on and forming the present 
road, to the top of Chestnut Hill where it again connected with 
Sullivan Street, was opened in the year 1788. The angle was 
known as Dietrich's corner. From this corner, a road led straight 
over the hill to the Delaware to what is now the Sanitarium and 
which was then the extensive plantation of Andrew Grube. 
Grube's house is still standing and his commodious stone barn has 
been transformed into the present Sanitarium. The road con- 

[128 ] 



tinued up the Delaware to the home of Jacob Kreider, the only 
settler on the Delaware at this point. And the locality here was 
designated as Kreider's Rock. The next family above, through 
the Whorrogott, was Boyer on the north side of Boyer Rock, an 
impassable barrier where the road terminated. 

The entire Chestnut Hill on which now is located Paxinosa 
Inn, was purchased by Peter Kocher for the express purpose of 
prospecting for silver on the strength of the information ad- 
vanced by an Indian Chief that gold was to be found in the 
mountain, but true to the Indian trait, he never would impart to 
Kocher the exact locality where it was to be found. Kocher 
devoted years to prospecting without success. Several holes dug 
by him on the far east end are still visible. 

We will now return to Sullivan Street. This is the ancient 
Minnisink highway but little used until Easton began, when it 
was the main thoroughfare to the mountains. The supposition 
that it was made by General Sullivan in 1779 is erroneous. The 
road that Sullivan constructed was through the great swamp 
beginning a few miles above Pocono Lake in Monroe County. 
This road leading over College Hill wsis used but very little after 
1788 as the road leading to the red pump was created to take its 
place. Where the present road crosses the northern boundary of 
the city and where it intersects the old Sullivan road, stands an 
old stone building, that was the gun factory of Henry Young 
during the Revolutionary War. His log house which has been, 
re-weatherboarded and modernized, is also standing, directly- 
opposite on the east side of the street. 

At the breaking out of the Revolutionary War, when Mas- 
sachusetts made her appeal to the sister colonies for support, 
Congress, then in session in the city of Philadelphia, and not 
positive of its own unity, the colonies still separated by petty 
jealousies and local pride, Cavalier mocking the Puritan, Knick- 
erbocker mistrusting both, appealed to the twelve colonies that 
they observe a common fast day in recognition of King George 
III as their rightful sovereign, and enjoined them to look to God 
for reconciliation with the parent state. Two days later, finding 
itself facing actual war, Congress made its first call for troops 
to form a national army. This was on June 14th, 1775, when it 
passed the resolution "That six companies of expert riflemen be 
immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland and two 
in Virginia, that each company as soon as completed, march and 
join the army near Boston, and be there employed as light in- 
fantry." These riflemen were the first troops ever levied on this 
continent by authority of a central representative government. 
On the following day George Washington was appointed com- 
mander-in-chief. Congress did not ask New England, New York 

[ 129 ] 



or New Jersey for troops, nor the other Colonies. They knew 
full well the sentiment of the people throughout these sections; 
they were not prepared to enter into conflict. Time which should 
have been spent in preparation had been wasted in discussion or 
devoted to fasting and prayer. But the men of the Alleghenies 
were always ready. Over every cabin door hung a well made 
rifle, correctly sighted, and bright within from frequent wiping 
and oiling. Beside it were tomahawk and knife, a horn of good 
powder and a pouch containg bullets, patches, spare flints, steel, 
tinder, whetstone, oil and tow for cleaning the rifle. A hunting 
shirt, mocassins and a blanket were near at hand. In case of 
alarm the backwoodsman seized these things, put a few pounds 
of rockahominy and jerked venison into his wallet and in five 
minutes was ready. It mattered not whether two men or two 
thousand were needed for war, they would assemble in a night, 
armed, accoutred and provisioned for a campaign. 

Incessant war with the Indians taught him to be his own 
general, to be ever on the alert, to keep his head and shoot 
straight under fire. Pitted against an enemy who gave no quarter, 
he became himself a man of iron nerve. It was the pick of these 
for which Congress asked. 

The assignment for the companies to be raised in Pennsyl- 
vania was one for each county with the exception of Lancaster 
and Cumberland, which, owing to their extensiveness, were 
assigned two companies each. Old Northampton trebled its 
quota and followed it shortly afterwards with more. When the 
tocsin of war was sounded through the great Kittatinny Valley, 
there was an uprising not only of eight hundred and ten of these 
American riflemen, but upwards of two thousand of them rushed 
on to Cambridge, some of them covering the distance of more 
than seven hundred miles in twenty-one days, all equipped with 
the product of the gun makers of old Northampton. The unruly 
mob that had already assembled around Cambridge and which 
our New Englanders delight to call an army, minute-men, armed 
with pitchforks and ancient fire-locks, looked on this avalanche 
of rescue with astonishment. They, however, were accorded 
the greatest respect. No personal consideration bound these 
backwoodsmen to the men of New England. Little it mattered 
to them whether tea was a shilling a pound or a guiena a pound 
■ — they never drank it. American manhood was insulted and they 
were there to resent it. All without a farthing being advanced 
by the Continental treasury. 

George Washington took command of the army then form- 
ing at Cambridge, Massachusetts. Troops from the southwest 
were on the march, every day some arrived at headquarters, and 
recei^ ed the glad welcome of their new commander. Up, out of 

[ 130 ] 



Winchester town came Daniel Morgan, a Scotch-Irish Pennsyl- 
vania German lad of the Lehigh Hills, and gathered, as he went 
from Shenandoah to the Lehigh, more than six hundred Penn- 
sylvania riflemen, following close on the heels of the three hun- 
dred more from the Forks of the Delaware, on through the 
Minnesinks to the siege of Boston. The British army, for the 
first time, now faced the new Swiss invention, the rifle, and this 
new weapon of warfare in the hands of nearly two thousand 
sharpshooters from Pennsylvania. The British Commander 
feared more these Pennsylvania riflemen than all the rest of 
Washington's untrained soldiery. To Daniel Morgan and these 
two thousand Pennsylvania riflemen more credit is due for the 
evacuation of Boston than to any other cause. 

One of the Pennsylvania boys and his famous rifle was cap- 
tured by the British and sent to England, where he was exhibited 
as a curiosity. If the New Englanders overlooked these facts 
not so the British army, for when they again met in battle at Long 
Island, there was vengeance in the air. The British commander 
pointed to a distant wooded hillock, where fluttered the crimson 
banner bearing the legend "St. Tammany." "There are to be 
found the dreaded green-coated riflemen of Pennsylvania," and 
they found them, and history tells us that nearly hal-f of these 
brave sons of Pennsylvania never lived to recross the Delaware 
River. The entire first, second, third and fourth classes of 
Northampton County militia participated in this battle. 

The Committee of Safety for the county of Northampton 
passed a resolution which debarred from participation in the 
armed forces then gathering, all persons possessing a knowledge 
of the manufacture of fire-arms. Among the Swiss and Palatine 
population of the vast territory then known as Northampton 
County, were a great many who were gunsmiths and armorers, 
some of them being descendants of the ancient armorers of the 
feudal period of Central Europe. These people brought with 
them to Pennsylvania the rifle, forty years or more before the 
Revolution, and improved upon this German model with such 
ingenuity that up to within a few years of this important event, 
they had produced a new type of firearm, superior to any other 
in the world — the American backwoods rifle. It is these artisans 
of the backwoods who, being denied the anticipated pleasure of 
entering into the conflict, returned to their workshops, to their 
homes, with renewed energy, knowing full well that their efiforts 
at their vocation would be of more importance than would be 
their services in the ranks. Soon every blacksmtih was seen 
forging gun barrels, every cabinet-maker shaping gun stocks, 
every gunsmith rifling gun barrels : not only they, but their wives 
and children and the wives and children of their neighbors who 

[ 131 1 



had gone to the front, now lent a helping hand, cleaning, polish- 
ing, burnishing, and putting the finishing touches to this new 
weapon .of warfare. All the backwoodsmen of Maryland, Vir- 
ginia and the Carolinas were familiar with the rifle, and all were 
in readiness for war long before the battle of Bunker Hill. For 
years they had been equipping themselves with the Pennsylvania 
rifle, in place of the old musket, which was yet being used by the 
more eastern colonies. 

It is to be regretted that so few of the names of these 
tillers of the virgin soil of Penn's colony, who possessed the 
ability to produce a better weapon of warfare than was used by 
any of the armies of the world, has been handed down to pos- 
terity. All honor to John Tyler, George Layendecker, John Moll, 
Jacob Newhardt, Ebenezer Cowell, Mathias Miller, Peter New- 
hardt, Daniel Kleist, John Young, Stephen Horn, Henry Young, 
Abraham Berlin, Adam Foulke, Anthony Smith, Isaac Berlin, 
Andrew Shorer, William Henry, John Golcher, Plenry Derringer, 
Johnston Smith, Peter Kern, John Kohn. These are names of 
principals only. The names of subordinates, probably, will never 
be known. William Henry had fourteen employes while in 
Lancaster, six of whom he brought with him to Nazareth, but so 
far it has been impossible to discover the names of these six. 

Ever since the Henrys came to America from England, they 
have been identified more or less with government service, either 
as soldier, statesman or manufacturer of arms. The first of the 
Henrys in this country was. Hon. William Henry of Lancaster. 
There he established a factory for the making of firearms in 
1752. His muskets and rifles were in demand during the Revo- 
lutionary war, and he could hardly make them fast enough. He 
was in charge of small arms during the Braddock and Forbes 
expeditions in the French and Indian wars. He was present at 
the attack of Fort Duequesne. During the battle he saved the life 
of the Delaware Indian chief, Killbuck. According to an Indian 
custom, Henry and the chief exchanged names. It is said that 
to this very day the Killbuck family retain the name of Henry 
as the middle name, both male and female. William Henry was 
also active in the Revolution as deputy quartermaster-general 
and superintendent of arms and military accoutrements. 

His son, William Henry, Jr., came to Nazareth in 1780 and 
entered into a contract with the state of Pennsylvania and the 
United States government for the manufacture of muskets. He 
built a small factory at Nazareth, but the water power was poor 
and the demand for muskets much greater than the supply. It 
was to facilitate this work that he built the Henry gun factory at 
Bolton, about three miles northeast of Nazareth. It is situated 
in one of the mose delightful spots along the Bushkill creek, 

[ 132 ] 




Old Episcopal Church on Spring Garden Street 




Old County House Demolished 1868 



formerly known by the Indian name, Lehicton. This was in 
1 812, when the government was pressing the factory with orders 
for the war then waging. A few years later the works passed 
into the hands of his sons, William Henry third and John Joseph 
Henry. They jointly conducted the business till 1822, when the 
latter became the sole owner. 

The fame of the Henry rifle had spread along the whole 
frontier, and when John Jacob Astor organized the North Ameri- 
can Fur company he ordered all his supply of rifles from the 
Henry factory. The rifles were to be of a certain style and the 
Henrys had the only factory at that time that could furnish them. 
Ramsey Crooks, afterwards president of the North American 
Fur company, was sent there by Astor to order the supply and 
personally compliment the gun manufacturers upon the satisfac- 
tion given by these rifles. 

The manufacture of these rifles ceased when the fur trade 
died out and the North American company went out of exist- 
ence. During these years many rifles and pistols were manufac- 
tured by the Henrys for the militia of the south and west and 
figured very prominently in the Civil war. 

The Council of Safety of Pennsylvania had established a 
gun factory at Philadelphia and employed Golcher to instruct 
in the art of boring and grinding the gun barrels. This state 
factory was later moved to Allentown, Golcher returning to 
Easton, where he began manufacturing fancy guns, the principal 
one being the double-barreled revolving rifle with one hammer. 
Not many of these were made on account of the high cost of 
production, and now they are very rare. 

Henry Derringer had settled very early in Easton and raised 
a large family, one of his sons being the inventor of the famous 
Derringer pistol, which is still used the world over where dueling 
is practiced. 

John Tyler was in charge of the gun factory at Allentown 
and at one time had sixteen men in his employ Daniel Kleist 
had his gun shop in Bethlehem township and made rifles for the 
Moravian store at Bethlehem. This store furnished a great 
many rifles to the companies passing through Bethlehem on their 
way to the seat of war. Daniel Morgan stopped here several 
days to have every man's rifle examined and put in order before 
proceeding. 

Abraham Berlin had taken up the vocation of blacksmithing 
in Easton, but was a gunsmith during the entire period of the 
Revolution, after which he again resumed blacksmithing. Stephen 
Horn lived at Easton, put in several years at gun work and then 
took up that of powder making. Isaac Berlin and John Young, 
both from the upper end of the county, took up their residences 

[ 133 ] 



in Easton, about the time of the agitation. Berlin's specialty was 
sword making. John Young was an armorer and an engraver 
or decorator. The decorations on Berlin's swords and on his 
own rifles were very artistic. He also decorated the guns for his 
brother Henry. Henry Young did a large business, and his 
neatly engraved rifles became very popular. His factory is, 
probably, the only one that is standing today. It is a one story 
stone building near where the road crosses the northern bpundary 
of the city of Easton, going over Chestnut Hill. John Young's 
store at Easton was a place of importance and he became gen- 
erally known not only in Pennsylvania but throughout the other 
colonies. During the month of February he had received a 
request for one thousand rifles. The Council of Safety at Phila- 
delphia immediately gave him permission to deliver to Virginia 
these one thousand rifles, provided he could deliver them before 
May 1st, which he did. This was in the year 1776. Johnston 
Smith was a partner in this transaction and it was his part to 
gather the rifles from the dift'erent makers. The Council of 
Safety, during the month of March, had been forming several 
companies in Philadelphia, in anticipation of the coming conflict. 
John Young furnished the council with one hundred and thirty 
rifles in April. Adam Foulk was a partner in the transaction. 
He, apparently, was of a migratory turn, as we find him in busi- 
ness in Easton, Allentown and Philadelphia. 

Little is known of Anthony Smith and Andrew Shorer, both 
of Bethlehem township. Probably, they made guns for the Beth- 
lehem store, as considerable business was done there. Peter 
Newhardt was from Whitehall township. Jacob Newhardt, John 
Moll and George Layendecker were from Allentown. They, at 
different times, worked in the state factory there and were in 
business for themselves when the state removed its factory to 
Philadelphia, after the British evacuated that place. Mathias 
Miller was a descendant of the ancient German armorers and 
had taken up locksmithing in Easton. His guns were remarkable 
by reason of their exquisite firelocks. Ebenezer Cowell came to 
Allentown along with the state gun factory and remained there 
after its removal again to Philadelphia. George Taylor and 
Richard Backhouse, both of whom resided in Easton, while not 
makers of rifles, or small arms, nevertheless can be classed among 
the gun makers by reason of their connection with the Durham 
iron works, in which they made cannon and considerable experi- 
mental work with gun-barrels. We find George Taylor asking 
the committee for powder for the purpose, of testing gun-locks. 
Taylor early in 1776 made a number of small brass swivel can- 
non. Both Taylor and Backhouse furnished great quantities of 
cannon balls during the entire war. As they were makers of 

[ 134 ] 



bar iron, it is safe to presume that they also made bar steel for 
gun barrels. 

The vast benefit these gunmakers were to the cause of 
American liberty has been overshadowed by the deeds of valor 
of their brothers at the front. However too much credit can not 
be given to these noble Pennsylvania-German gunsmiths for the 
successes and achievements of the American backwoods riflemen. 
Working on, regardless of the overtures of the British emissaries, 
whose endeavors to entice them to the interests of the British 
crown were unsuccessful, ignoring all flattering inducements, 
ever firm in the cause of liberty. When we sing the songs of 
Long Island, when we revel in the glories of Bunker Hill, it 
behooves us not to forget the gun makers of old Northampton. 

Our car will now return to Centre Square, where we will 
note some pen-pictures of time — reflections that cast a halo over 
this ancient historic shrine. 

Easton as the capitol of the county was frequently assailed 
as not the proper place for holding Court. This was only owing 
to its location, as not being sufficiently central, and not through 
any political preference. With the rapidly increasing population 
there was a corresponding increase of dissatisfaction for any 
business with the county officials — no matter how trivial — meant 
to these citizens a long journey and the loss of a week's time. 
The greater number of the people lived below the Lehigh River 
and finally in 1788, a petition containing one thousand three hun- 
dred and forty names of voters — from the southern and eastern 
parts of Northampton County and parts of Bucks, Montgomery 
and Berks County — was presented to the Assembly requesting 
it to be constituted as a separate county. The petition also in- 
cluded an offer to erect a Court House and Prison and any 
other county buildings that might be desired. Any or all expense 
accruing therefrom to be assumed by the petitioners. Great 
pressure was brought to bear upon the assembly by these citizens 
of the Lehigh hills but that body of august statesmen declined to 
grant their request. This caused great rejoicing in Easton and 
the little settlement began to feel its importance. The great 
prosperity experienced directly after the close of the Revolution- 
ary War permitted the citizens to better the condition of the 
town, and consequently side-walks, curbing, and all improve- 
ments that go with making a proper town, were adopted, even 
to petitioning the assembly to create the town into a borough, 
which was to include the entire thousand acre tract. This out- 
lying district was known as Easton Township. 

This move on the part of the townsmen brought forth 
another petition, from sixty-six citizens of the township (and 
which also included a few of the prominent men living in the 

[ 135 ] 



town proper who owned outlots in the township) opposing the 
granting of a charter for borough. This formidable protest, 
however, for some reason not quite clear was ignored by the 
assembly and Easton was given a charter. 

October 2, 1789. 

"Whereas it has been recommended by the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas of said County to the Commissioners, that it being 
moved to the Court by the Attorneys, that the business is greatly 
impeded at December and March Courts for want of stoves, to 
keep the people from suffering by the extreme cold and the 
Justices have experienced the great delays and interruptions of 
public business for want of such necessaries. Whereupon the 
said Comissioners have appointed John Herster to furnish the 
stoves." 

May I, 1800. 

"Those who are in favor of a market house in the borough 
of Easton are requested to meet at the house of Adam Heckman 
on Saturday next." 

This notice caused considerable excitement in the town as 
the idea of building a market house was considered an extrava- 
gant measure. The necessity of a market house at that early 
period — when there was a limited population — was questioned 
and naturally brought forth almost a unanimous protest but not- 
withstanding the opposition to the measure the fact that market 
houses were in style and being put up in larger towns, it was 
considered the proper thing to follow suit, and accordingly tht 
market house was erected directly north of the Court House, one 
end of it projecting into North Third Street. 

January i, 1801. 
"The triumph of republicanism was celebrated by public 
demonstration by firing of cannon and a grand dinner at the 
hotel of Mr. Heckman. The artillery was placed in a conspicuous 
situation on the hill which over-hangs the south side of the 
Bushkill and has received on this occasion the name of Mount 
Jefferson." 

March 12, 1801. 
"The Republicans of Easton have not been deficient in ex- 
pressing their appreciation over the inauguration of Thom.as 
Jefferson. Fifteen minutes before midnight a band assembled 
in the cupola of the Court House and played the Dead March as 
a requiem to expiring Anglo-Federalism. Precisely at twelve 
o'clock they struck up Jefferson's march and played various other 
appropriate tunes. The Court House was splendidly illuminated 

[ 136 ] 



and a number of Republican citizens testified their participation 
in the general joy by displaying lights in the fronts of their 
houses. Although midnight yet almost all the inhabitants were 
in the streets or at their doors and windows, witnessing the most 
brilliant exhibition that has been known in the borough since the 
capture of Cornwallis. A piece of artillery placed on the hill at 
the junction of the Bethlehem and Nazareth roads gave sixteen 
discharges in honor of the occasion, and martial music paraded 
the streets till appearance of daylight — at that moment there 
were sixteen rounds of cannon discharged on Mount Jefferson. 
At two P. M. a large dinner was served at the house of Jacob 
Opp." 

In the month of December, 1826, sealed proposals were 
requested for the erection of a Town Clock in the belfry of 
the Court House in the Borough of Easton. The clock was 
to have four dials, one facing each point of the compass, and to 
be completed by the first day of January, 1828. 

At a meeting of the Burgesses of the Borough of Easton, 
held Monday evening, February 19th, A. D., 1827, it was 
resolved that a town meeting of the inhabitants — housekeep- 
ers of said borough — be held at the Court House in said bor- 
ough on Tuesday, the 27th inst, at 3 o'clock P. M., to take 
into consideration the propriety of raising an additional sum 
of money to defray the expense of erecting a town clock in 
said borough, of which notice is hereby given to the said 
inhabitants. 

By order of the Burgesses. 

J. R. LATTIMORE, T. C. 
^'Messrs. Editors : — 

A correspondence in the last "Centinel" has been so kind 
as to inform the public what is intended to be done in our 
goodly borough, in the course of time ; but as he has omitted 
many facts equally interesting, I take the liberty of forthwith 
furnishing them to my fellow townsmen. 

There is no doubt but that Easton, in the course of time, 
will contain many more inhabitants than it does at present; 
and it is even conjectured, that some who are now alive and 
well will not live to see such an increase. 

It is the opinion of some sageacres that our streets will 
be paved with nice, round stones ; and some have hinted at 
the possibility of having lamps to "make darkness visible" in 
this or the succeeding century. 

Some have conjectured that v/here the academy now stands, 
there will be a light-house erected to guide the contemplated 
steam-boat up the Delaware; but I rather suppose, in the 

[ 137 ] 



course of time, it will be levelled with the streets and built up 
with elegant, four-story houses. 

Should these United States of America keep together in 
the bond of union, there is a great probability that Easton 
will, say in two thousand years, be the capital of the county 
in which it is located, provided there is no other town larger 
or better calculated for a county town. 

A calculation has been made, by a celebrated accountant, 
that if the present Delaware Bridge should stand till the year 
2000, the next one will stand until it is taken down by a 
freshet. 

A friend to future improvement." 

"March i6, 1827. 

"A few days since, after crossing the Delaware Bridge, I 
was ushered into the goodly borough of Easton, so noted for 
what it is likely to be. Leaving the future entirely out of the 
question I would briefly state what it is at present. Having 
heard much conversation with regard to the erection of a 
Town Clock, while passing up Northampton Street, my eyes 
were naturally directed to the pinnacle of the seat of Justice, 
in order to discover whether the contemplated piece of 
horology was seated on its airy throne ; but before I was fully 
satisfied whether it was there or not, my visionary organs 
were hastily directed to seeking out a safe landing place for 
my nose. As I am not a member of the squint-eye gentry, 
who have one eye up and the other down, my feet had neces- 
sarily been compelled to guide themselves, until arrested by 
one of the many side-walk jogs, which lay me sprawling five 
feet, six and caused every joint to snap and crack. The con- 
tusions, I at first supposed, would prove mortal, but as the 
incident occurred in the vicinity of a pill shop, a knight of the 
postle and mortar sallied forth with his lancet in one hand 
and a lump of ice in the other and commenced operating 
secundem artem. After a copious bleeding, and being subjected 
for some hours to the temperature of the frigid zone, I was 
able to prosecute my journey as far as Centre Square. This 
however was effected with some difficulty, being weak in 
body; and my pockets which had all along assited to keep up 
the specific gravity, became considerably lighter after this 
adventure. 

I should be happy to learn from the Chief Burgess, 
whether these life-and-limb-endangering and physician's- 
fortune-making pavements are to remain eternally as they are 
at present, for they are an outcrying nuisance and only to be 
compared to the steps of the Tower of Babel. Whilst the 

[ 138 ] 




Near the Whorrogott— Pulpit Rock 



Colonial Warehouse on Lehigh 



spirit of improvement is abroad, I do sincerely hope that some 
measures will speedily be taken to remedy these evils, by 
appointing suitable persons as street regulators. This, if 
adopted, would tend more to the improvement of the Borough, 
than a time regulator. A Town Clock, to be sure, sounds far, 
but we dare not look towards it without stumbling. It re- 
minds me of a girl with a twenty dollar head-dress walking 
barefoot in the street. 

Having reached Centre Square, my observations respecting 
it, are for another number. 

Blue Shins." 

April 3, 1844. 
It will be recollected that at the last court, the measure for 
building a new jail, was defeated by the grand jury of our county; 
as it now stands there is no probability that Northampton County 
will for the next fifty years think it advisable to erect new public 
buildings, in fact those in favor of the measure, have lost all 
hopes of ever living long enough to see it carried out. Another 
measure presents itself however, which is one of necessity, of 
which the people of the county generally are in favor, which is 
to refit and repair the old buildings in a plain and substantial 
way, so as to prevent them from absolute decay and ruin. The 
court house, particularly is here referred to. This building is a 
venerable and substantial edifice — as originally designed it can- 
not, perhaps, be surpassed by any in the state, but it wants the 
refreshing touch of the painter's brush outside and in. The 
window sills, some of them, are well nigh gone with decay — the 
ceiling of the court room wants a little white wash, to make it 
lighter and more suitable for its use. The old benches, which 
are but useless lumber, occupying room, without furnishing ac- 
comodations, should be removed — and one row of permanent 
seats placed in their stead. The three old stoves, with the pipes, 
running over the bar, might be traded off for one good stove, 
which would be amply sufficient to warm the room; thus saving 
fuel and pipe and avoiding all the disagreeable effects of the pres- 
ent arrangement. The outside of the building should be rough 
cast, thus making it more substantial, and at the same time a 
warmer tenement. Now, what would all this cost the county? 
A few hundred dollars at the most, and if it be not done, and 
that very soon, there will be a necessity for a new building, which 
at present we think does not exist. It is to be hoped the com- 
missioners will look into this matter. As the agents of the 
people they are bound to protect the public building from dilapi- 
dation and decay, and are cuplable if they neglect it. They have 
heretofore turned their attention to the county house, which is 

[ 139 ] 



now in a tolerable good condition, and we hope the subject of 
this article will be next in order. 

September 25, 1844. 
The county commissioners have been engaged for several 
weeks in repairing and fitting up the court house. The new 
windows and shutters are up and part of the rough casting on 
and some idea can already be formed of its appearance when 
completed. The interior is also undergoing some alteration and 
repair, in which convenience as well as beauty will be consulted. 
So far as the commissioners have progressed in their work, they 
appear to have the undivided approbation of the public. Some 
of our citizens were anxious to see the venerable walls, which 
were erected ninety-two years ago, torn down ; but all now admit 
that the best course was adopted. We will have a handsome and 
convenient court house, which as far as wear is concerned will 
stand another century at an expense of about $2,000, whereas a 
new one, and perhaps not any better, would have put the county 
to a cost of fifty to seventy-five thousand dollars. 

November 20, 1844. 
Since the last term of courts of this county the commission- 
ers have greatly improved the old court house. Many of the 
citizens who have been attending our courts for the last half 
century, appeared to be surprised on entering to find it painted, 
handsomely papered and conveniently arranged with seats, to 
which they were conducted, with a constable's order of "hats 
off." The room is now in keeping with the times, and the audi- 
ence in attendance much more quiet than formerly, which would 
be greatly increased if the bar and the aisles were carpeted. The 
exterior of the building is well improved with a neat portico at 
the west entrance, the whole surrounded with a fence enclosing 
the eighty feet of ground belonging to the county. 



[ 140 ] 



FOURTH JOURNEY 

EASTWARD ON NORTHAMPTON STREET 




EFORE starting on our fourth journey, it may be well 
to observe some of the numerous changes that have 
taken place in this, the northeast section of Centre 
Square. 

The present Hotel Huntington was formed from 
two buildings. The one on the corner was the brick residence of 
Jacob Arndt, Jr., erected in the year 1809, prior to which time the 
site was an open lot 32 feet wide. In the year 1832 it became the 
residence of Hopewell Hepburn, and later it became the property 
of M. H. Jones, Sr., who enlarged the structure to its present 
height. The other building was also of brick, erected about the 
year 1838 by the Northampton Mutual Insurance Company. On 
the site of the latter building formerly stood a stone structure 
erected in the year 1760 by John Stillwagon, a merchant of that 
period. In 1772 he sold this property to Frederick Nungesser 
for the use of Nungesser's daughter Rachel, wife of Bernhard 
Schmidt. Schmidt was a German harness-maker and did a good 
business during the Revolutionary War. One of his employees 
was a young Revolutionary soldier, Absalom Reeder, who some- 
time later married Schmidt's daughter Christina. Schmidt about 
this time relinquished the harness business and converted the 
building into a hotel. Reeder embarked in the business of the 
manufacturing of fur hats and finally became owner of the 
property. Next to this, and on the site of the Kahn building was 
the office of John Brotzman, Chief Burgess of the town. 

In 1799 Brotzman sold the property to Dr. Peter Von 
Steuben, a brother of the Revolutionary General. In 1802 Von 
Steuben transferred it to Nicholas Kern, who about this time had 
also purchased the corner property with the intention of convert- 
ing the entire tract to the use of the two congregations, Lutheran 
and Reformed, for the purpose of erecting thereon two resi- 
dences for their respective pastors. But the controversy existing 
between the two congregations caused a change of plans and 
Kern, in the year 1808, sold the entire property to John Hester 
and Peter Miller. 

The next lot, eastward, adjoining this and the site of 
the present Seip building was originally the hotel property of 
Arnold Everhardt. Everhardt and his good wife Margaret were 
excellent hotel managers and conducted this place as a leading 
tap-house in the town. Everhardt died in middle life and the 

[ 143 1 




mM'mvm 



business was conducted by his widow for a number of years. 
During celebrations and election times, when all hotels and tap- 
houses were taxed to their utmost, it was a noticeable feature 
that at Everhardt's no carousing or boisterousness was permitted. 
This gave to the house an exclusive patronage. Only the best 
liquors were sold at the bar and among these was one that made 
the house famous. This was " Everhardt's Mead" and was 
known to the extreme ends of all stage lines leading out of 
Easton. 

Its formula was a secret, well guarded, and was a source of 
revenue for the family down four generations. Through it one 
member, a grandson of Arnold's, became a bottler of mild drinks 
and conducted a successful business during his entire life. 
Another member of the family brewed it in large quantities for 
one of the local breweries for upwards of twenty-five years, 
when the demand for it became so great that the breweres pro- 
cured the formula and the drink (under a changed name) be- 
came one of their principal products. The change of name, the 
advent of modern drinks and lack of interest on the part of the 
producers of it, may have been the cause of its having lost its 
place on the list of refreshing beverages. The enjoined secrecy 
in which the formula was held, and of which there was probably 
no written record, may also have contributed its share toward 
causing it to become obsolete. The writer by chance discovered 
the formula, in part, and after a lapse of nearly forty years, now 
furnishes from a somewhat treacherous memory the following, 
recipe : 

easton's famous colonial drink 

^ Pound Raisins, 4 Ounces Cloves, 4 Ounces Ginger, 2- 
Quarts Wild Honey, ^ Ounce Essence of Birch (Genuine, not 
wintergreen), and i Pint Yeast. 

Mix and boil together, thoroughly, the raisins, cloves, ginger 
and birch. Then add the honey, which first should be thoroughly 
mixed with the yeast. Pour into a receptacle holding ten gallons, 
then fill with warm water and await ferpientation, carefully add- 
ing water to eject residue until fermentation ceases, when it is 
ready for bottling. 

The present building was erected about 1820 by William 
White, son-in-law of Everhardt, who conducted the place for 
many years as the main hotel of the town. On the next property 
fronting the east angle of the Square stands a dressed stone 
building that was erected back in the 20's by Colonel Peter Ihrie 
for a residence, and is now used as a business block. Adjoining 
this, on the north rear, is part of an old stone building that was 
erected during the Revolutionary War. It was the new home of 

[ 145 ] 



Doctor Andrew Ledley, a British sympathizer, although holding 
an office under the Commissary Department of the new govern- 
ment. He was closely watched by the Loyalists but escaped 
apprehension, being one of the few who succeeded in getting 
through the Revolutionary period without taking the oath of 
allegiance. He was a man distrusted by both forces in that 
memorable struggle. One of his official duties consisted of look- 
ing after the prisoners of war on parole in Northampton County 
and also for Sussex County in New Jersey. At what is now 
Green's Bridge, in the lower end of Phillipsburg, was the mill of 
Valentine Beidleman, in whose employ was one of these paroled 
prisoners, a German stone-mason, who had been living there for 
more than a year, unmolested and unknown to Dr. Ledley. 

Desiring to marry a young woman in his neighborhood, 
Beidleman and a number of influential citizens of Jersey, peti- 
tioned Robert Levers to issue a license to him. Levers, to make 
the license legal, notified Dr. Ledley of the circumstances and 
procured the Doctor's consent to issue a license. After the wed- 
ding Dr. Ledley had the man brought to Easton and lodged him 
in jail to await deposition of the accuracy of his parole from the 
Board of War. This caused great indignation and protest from 
all good citizens, but which had no effect whatever on Dr. Ledley 
as he was safe within his rights as Commissary of Prisoners. 
However he compromised with the man by giving him his free- 
dom provided he would do the mason work on the Doctor's new 
house, which was then in course of construction and for which 
services he received only his board and was compelled to lodge 
in the jail at night. The thrifty Doctor rendered an expense 
account to the Government for over a year's board and lodging, 
thereby getting the mason work on his new home without any 
personal expense. All this time, the man was refused permission 
to visit his wife or his friends. Beidleman and Levers finally 
secured his release through an act of the Committee of Safety 
and Congress. The man returned to his bride and in after yeart 
he became an influential citizen of Warren County. Dr. Ledley 
had lost the respect of the entire community and some years later 
became financially involved, lost all his worldly possessions and 
finally died a friendless man. 

Our car now passes around the corner, ready to proceed 
down east Northarhpton Street. This street was not opened until 
the year 1788, when a petition was presented to court to open a 
road from Hamilton and Northampton streets to the Delaware 
River. At that time there were but few houses between the 
Square and the river, and while there are numerous points of 
historical interest, limited space compels a curtailment. We note 

[ 146 ] 



at the south corner of the Square what is now the Mayer Build- 
ing, erected during the Revolutionary War by Michael Hart and 
conducted by him, first as a hotel and later as a store. 

At the southeast corner of Sitgreaves Street is where Wil- 
liam Craig desired to locate a hotel but Parsons refused to sell 
him a lot east of the Square. Finally he secured it and in 1754 
erected on the corner a stone residence and store, which he later 
converted into a hotel. 

Our car moves to Second and Northampton streets. Here 
on the northeast corner is still standing the old stone hotel of 
Jacob Bachman, the first place in Northampton County to receive 
a license in June 1752. Opposite this, on the northwest corner 
was the hotel of Theophilus Shannon. 

To the northward on Second Street, crowning Bixler's Bluff, 
is Easton's High School Building, supplanting what was formerly 
the old Union Academy — erected shortly after the Revolutionary 
War — and which was later incorporated as one of the buildings 
of the new Public School System. It was here, back in the 6o's, 
that the writer received inspiration from both books and rod, 
during the period when the yellow-backed dime novelistic litera- 
ture of the Far-West variety made its first appearance, and the 
reading of which — hidden between the protective covers of the 
geography — formed the favorite pastime among the rising gen- 
eration, and from which probably more National History was 
learned than was absorbed from the Yankee Historical Text- 
Books. "Where they all did sin, the writer fell in." The new 
building, while architecturally not what it should be, is a vast 
improvement over that of the old, and where they still impart to 
the rising generation New England stories as the History of the 
United States. 

South Second Street and lower Northampton Street, after 
the Revolutionary War, became the popular section for hotel 
men. It has often been wondered why there was a necessity for 
so many hotels in Easton at that early period, and the majority 
of these with so few rooms for the accommodation of lodgers, 
yet with huge barns or sheds and commodious grounds. This is 
explained by the fact that traffic was heavy and on the increase 
and consequently the hotels acquired ample facilites for quarter- 
ing horses and wagons. And in this section of the town it was 
to be had, which was in close proximity to the two ferries and 
the two bridges already in contemplation. Again the overland 
teams generally consisted of four, six and often eight horses to 
each wagon, while there was seldom more than one wagoner (as 
drivers in those days were called), and occasionally he was ac- 
companied by an assistant. And he — and very often the wagoner 
— would sleep under the wagons or in the barns. In the spring 

[ 148 ] 




Jacob Bachman's Hotel 1732 now corner 2nd and Northampton Streets (Photo 1911) 




John Nicholas' Hotel F.rected 1806, Second and Ferry Streets (Photo 1911) 



and fall, when trafific was the heaviest, the town, even with its 
astonishing array of hotels, was often taxed to its utmost to 
accommodate them. Stabling of five or six hundred horses, with 
their wagons, was a common occurrence. The sheltering of these 
was an absolute necessity and wagoners preferred the hotels that 
furnished the best accommodations for their teams. 

One of these was that of John Spangenberg. This was 
located on the west side of Second Street, between Pine and 
Ferry, about the middle of the block, with an open lot reaching 
to Ferry Street. The new Post Office building now stands upon 
this ancient hotel yard. Opposite this, on the southwest corner 
of Ferry, was the hotel of John Nicholas with a yard reaching to 
the Lehigh. Nicholas in 1806 built a new stone hotel on the 
northeast corner. The Ferry Hotel, at the corner of Front and 
Ferry streets, with a yard reaching up Ferry and adjoining that 
of John Nicholas', was then being conducted by Jacob Abel. 

On Second Street and adjoining John Nicholas' hotel prop- 
erty on the rear, stood a small frame building. This was the 
residence and office of Dr. Andrew Ledley after he was com- 
pelled to relinquish his property in the Square. Between Dr. 
Ledley and Pine Street were two lots owned by Colonel Robert 
Levers. On the corner lot stood a large frame building which 
was his home and also office as Justice of the Peace. At this 
time Levers was an elderly man, enjoying the fruits of his labors 
during the Revolutionary struggle. This sterling old patriot ever 
firm in his endeavors to do right and always true in principle, 
was beloved by all citizens who were loyal to the American cause. 
His persistency in the prosecution of Toryism caused some bit- 
terness among the few former Tories who had not formed a 
part of the great exodus of the Scotch-Irish Tories from North- 
ampton County, to the west, and who still had their habitations in 
the regions round-about. Among those who were Levers' bitter- 
est enemies, were the children and grand-children of Lewis Gor- 
don, who never left an opportunity escape in which they could 
annoy the old gentleman. On one occasion they were more de- 
monstrative than usual and making forcible entry into his home, 
assaulted the old patriarch to such an extent that he delined 
rapidly in health and died a few years later, leaving the four fol- 
lowing children: Robert, Richard, Elizabeth and Mary. The 
perpetrators of this outrage, with one exception, escaped punish- 
ment by fleeing to Virginia, where they resided for many years, 
settling up their interests in Easton through proxy and power-of- 
attorney. 

Northampton County, S. S. 
To any Constable of this County. 

"Whereas — Information upon oath hath this day been made, 
before me Peter Rhodes, one of the Justices of the Peace in and 

[ 149 ] 




Stage Coach of the Period Prior to Railroads 

for the said count}^ that Robert Levers, Esquire, also one of the 
Justices of the said county, that on the 28th day of July last past, 
at the town of Easton, in the County aforesaid, William Gordon 
of the said town of Easton, Gent. : Alexander Gordon of the 
same place, Hatter; James Taylor of the same place. Apprentice 
to Dr. Andrew Ledlie ; James Pettigrew of the same place, Gent. ; 
with Michael Shall, constable of Bethlehem Township in the said 
county, with force and arms, that is to say with stones, toma- 
hawks and axes, before the house of said Robert Levers of 
Easton aforesaid, unlawfully, riotously and rationally did as- 
semble and gather together to disturb the peace of the Common- 
wealth of Pennsylvania, and being so assembled and gathered 
together the front door of the dwelling house of the said Robert 
Levers, then and there, unlawfully, riotously and rationally did 
break open and thereby did greatly terrify his family and injur- 
iously and insultingly did treat his house and his Office of Justice 
of the Peace and other doings to the said Robert Levers, then and 
there, unlawfully, riotously and rationally did to the great 
damage of him, the said Robert Levers, against the peace of this 
Commonwealth. You are therefore hereby required to appre- 
hend and take the said William Gordon, Alexander Gordon, 
James Taylor, James Pettigrew and Michael Shall and them 
bring forthwith before me or some other Justice of this county 
to answer the premises and that they may be dealth withal ac- 
cording to law, hereof fail not Given under my hand and seal 
the twenty-first day of September in the year of our I^rd one 
thousand, seven hundred and eighty five." 

The old stone building standing at the southeast corner of 
Northampton and Second streets was erected about the year 
1790 by the four combined Lutheran congregations, Easton, 
Dryland, Plainfield and Greenwich, as a home for their pastor. 



[ ISO ] 




The Soldiers' Monument 




M 



ichael Hart's Hotel 1780 and Later General Store East Northampton and Square (Photo 1911) 



At the southwest corner — Second and Northampton 
streets — was an elevation of ground which after Northampton 
Street was cut through formed a hill of considerable size, with, 
an eastern slope reaching to the Delaware. Midway between 
the two points was a large hollow, reaching from Bixler's 
Bluff to Pine Street. This was known as Molasses Hollow. 
There are but two houses remaining that were built prior to 
the filling up of this hollow in 1803. For many years this hill, 
was a source of annoyance to the citizens and a novel plan of 
its removal through a frolic by the able-bodied men of the 
town was decided upon as the most economical manner of 
removing the hill, grading the street and filling the hollow.. 
The following notice was given through the press : 

October 15, 1803. 

"An opportunity now presents itself to enable such gen- 
tlemen volunteers, who are actuated with the public spirit, to 
serve themselves and deserve well of their country (both as to 
ornament and utility to the public and borough of Easton in 
particular), which the lowering of the hill, into the hollow of 
the east end of Northampton and principal streets of the 
town, with other neighboring improvements, will be of — and 
will commence on Tuesday, next. Those therefore who are 
inclined to add their mite to so useful an undertaking are 
requested to send a substitute or attend with the proper im- 
plements for work as time shall best suit their convenience,, 
the ensuing week." 

This met with the approval of everybody. All the men 
and boys of the town entered into the spirit with a will and 
an abundance of refreshments of every kind was furnished 
by the wives, daughters and sweethearts. And lo and behold, 
the hill disappeared and Molasses Hollow became traditional. 

We will now proceed down Northampton Street, on the 
north side of which, in the lower half of the block, stood the old 
stone hotel of John Green. Directly across the street, on the 
southwest corner of Green Street, the present stone building was 
built about 1797 by Peter Nungesser. Nungesser at the time was 
conducting the Bull's Head Hotel on Third Street and had in 
contemplation this second hotel for his son, but he evidently 
changed his mind as, some years later, we find his son conducting 
the Bull's Head Hotel and Peter using this second building as 
his home, and in which he lived until his death. 

Very early in the period during the agitation for the Dela- 
ware Bridge a large frame hotel was erected by Frederick Wag- 
ner, Sr., on the opposite corner of Green Street, on the site of the 
present Gerver House. But Wagner, who was a land speculator, 
soon tired of his hotel business and disposing of his holdings to 

[ 151 ] 



John Green, erected a stone building on the site of the present 
Sherer Bros, building, where he resided until the end of his 
days. Green about 1799, named his hotel the "National" and by 
that name it remained until the present owner, Robert Gerver, 
purchased it, about one hundred years later, and changed the 
name to "Gerver House." 

Northward on Front Street were several small buildings that 
were really private residences but which were utilized for lodging 
raftsmen during the "rush" periods when the downtown hotels 
were crowded. At the corner of Spring Garden Street was 
erected shortly after the Revolutionary War, Sheriff Jonas 
Hartzell's Hotel, known as the "Delaware House," which was 
strictly a raftsmen's hotel and remained such during the entire 
rafting period, which lasted about one hundred years. 

We will now cross to the New Jersey side of the bridge 
which here spans the river Delaware, the grand national river of 
the Lenni Lenape (men of men). 

*'Ye Noble Lenape, this was once your domaine. 

This river, these mountains, this fertile plain. 

From time immemorial, by stories handed down. 

You had exclusive title to your homes and hunting ground. 

With sorrow, grief and suffering, you were forced at last to go, 

From the graves of your forefathers, to a land you did not know ; 

And now the road is open across the stormy sea, 

The white men are invaders and your friends no longer be." 

Immediately on our right and stretching northward for a mile 
along the Jersey side of the river, is a level tract of ground which, 
to the first settlers, was known as the "old Indian fields," while 
the Indians called it "Mechonakihan." At the lower end was the 
old Indian town of Chinktewunk. These Indians, who were 
supposed to be a part of the Pompton branch of the Unami or 
Turtle division of the Lenni Lenape Nation, cultivated the entire 
tract upto Marble Hill. This hill and the one opposite (Chestnut 
Hill), together with the main ridge of mountains, forms a gap 
through which the river winds in a peculiar manner. The Indians 
called this place "Pohachqueunk" (place where the waters dis- 
appear). The Hollanders prospecting from the north about the 
year 1664 called it "Whorrogott," which has the same meaning. 
This latter term was rather difficult for the English tongue to 
enunciate and it soom became corrupted into "Whycott." This 
later found its way into print as "Weygat," which is the term 
commonly used today. To the present generation there is a 
prevailing impression that "Weygat" was the name of an Indian 
Tribe, yet the word is foreign to any of the Indian dialects. 

A short distace below the Whorrogott, rising from the bed 

[ 152 ] 




Peter Niingesser's Hotel Green and Northampton Streets (Photo 1911) 




Our Car on the New Jersey End of the Delaware Bridge 



of the river is a peculiar rock formation commonly known as 
"Pot Rock." This, when the river is normal, projects above the 
water making a fairly level plateau, free from rubbish or foliage. 
Into this rock the Indians had bored their corn mortars, about 
thirty in number. Nearly two hundred years have passed since 
the Indian maidens gathered on this stone plateau to grind the 
day's supply of corn and so deep had some of these holes become 
from the excessive grinding through the ages that some of them 
are yet in evidence, and in good state of preservation, although 
their edges are crumbling in, and in many places the rock has 
entirely disappeared. 

Just below Pot Rock is a sandy beach which makes a delight- 
ful bathing resort, and very popular with the masses. And on 
any nice summer afternoon it is thronged with people. A few 
hundred yards below this is the pumping station, where the city 
gets its supply of water. The inlet pipe, which is set in near the 
middle of the river, was a favorite place for venturesome bathers 
who enjoyed the sensation of being drawn toward the opening. 
But this dangerous pleasure has been discontinued as bathers 
preferred being nearer the beach, owing to a sewer outlet between 
the two place. 

Just north of the bridge, along Front Street, is Riverside 
Park, a creation of recent years. This is the first re-clamation of 
land in Easton for a parkway system and it is the fond hope of 
the few citizens who favor a "city beautiful" to have a parkway 
reach northward on the Delaware and westward on the Bushkill. 
These two places, even in their present primitive condition, form 
magnificent driveways, the admiration of all strangers. The 
north Delaware road is the main thoroughfare to the Delaware 
Water Gap and all mountain resorts to the north. The old 
covered bridge, that formerly spanned the river at the place 
where the new iron structure now stands, was the favorite place 
during the rafting period years ago, to watch the rafts float down 
the river and under the bridges. It was a common sight to see 
several hundred of these crafts pass down each day. Many of 
these would strike the piers of the railroad bridges below, and 
often when accidents of this kind did occur, they were attended 
with a loss of life, and the rafts were sure to be completely 
wrecked. Easton was one of the two places on the river where 
anchorage could be made — a safe harbor — and was just a proper 
distance below the other for a day's trip and at nigjht there would 
often be a string of raft reaching from the bridge for a mile or 
more, up the river. The rafting industry came to end about the 
year 1908 and today not a raft is seen on these waters, and the 
many saw-mills that formerly lined both river banks have dis- 
appeared. 

[ 153 ] 



The work on this bridge was commenced in the summer 
of 1797 and the foundations of the cribs for the piers and the 
two stone abutments were completed by fall of the following 
year, although the completion of the entire bridge was de- 
layed for several years, principally for the lack of funds. 

The unfinished condition in which these piers were left 
for a number of years was the cause for the wreckage of a 
great many rafts and the source of annoyance to the raftsmen. 

March 26, 1803. 

On Monday last an unfortunate accident happened on the 
River, opposite this town. Several persons were employed 
in transporting a number of mules across the Delaware in a 
flat boat. From the rapidity of the water and some injudicious 
management, the boat struck against the western pier, which 
was sunk for the support of the bridge, and was immediately 
upset, by which means Thomas Taylor, the ferryman, and a 
negro boy — the property of Thomas Bullman, Esq. — were 
unfortunately drowned. The driver of the mules, being in the 
flat boat, with remarkable presence of mind, pushed his horse 
into the water and mounting him arrived safe on shore. 

About this time new life was infused into the enterprise 
by inaugurating a lottery scheme that became very popular 
and in time sufficient funds were realized to resume work on 
the structure which was finally completed and on Tuesday, 
October the 14th, 1806, was opened for traffic. This event 
assumed the proporitions of a general celebration and nearly 
one thousand foot passengers are recorded as having passed 
over the bridge on that day. 

The dimensions of the bridge were as follows : 

Ft. in. 
Length of the bridge, exclusive of the abutments and 

wing walls 570 o 

Chord of the eastern arch 155 o 

Chord of the middle arch 157 o 

Chord of the western arch 159 4 

Width of the bridge 29 o 

Width of each carriage way in the clear 12 6 

Curvature of the arches 11 o 

Curvature of the floor or carriage way 6 o 

Height in the clear over the carriage way 13 9 

Height from the surface of the river, at low water 

mark, to the floor 45 o 

Thickness of the eastern abutment, at the top.. 31 6 

Thickness of the western abutment at the top .... 36 3 

Length of the piers 40 o 

Height of the piers at low water mark 27 o 

Depth of water in which the western pier is sunken 18 o 

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Below the bridge, along the bank of the river and up the 
Lehigh to Fourth Street, was a continuous wharfage. Here were 
located the great shipping places, prior to the advent of canals 
and railroads. On both river fronts were between twenty and 
thirty warehouses. Of these there are but five remaining, two 
on the Delaware, one at the dam and two at the foot of Fourth 
Street. These old buildings are mute reminders of the times that 
were; the days when the Delaware River was the commercial 
channel of trade. 

Navigation on the river was by means of light-weight boats. 
Of these there were two kinds; the "Flat Boat" and later the 
"Durham Boat." The precise time when the Durham boat made 
its first appearance is not definitely determined. Probably it 
was not until after the Durham Furance was removed from Dur- 
ham to its third location, where it now stands. This would 
make the time after the Revolutionary War. In the year 1765 
in a historic description of the Delaware Valley, there is no men- 
tion made of the Durham boat, although an account is given in 
which it states that "these flat boats are made like throughs, 
square above the heads and sterns, sloping a little fore and aft, 
generally 40 to 50 feet long, 6 or 7 feet wide, and 2 feet 9 inches 
or 3 feet deep and draw 20 or 22 inches of water when loaden 
and easily carry 500 to 600 bushels of grain. Freight rate from 
Easton and below to Philadelphia at this period was 20 shillings 
per ton for pig iron, 7 pence a bushel for wheat, 2 shillings and 
6 pence a barrel for flour." 

The Durham boat was shaped like an Indian canoe, but was 
wide and long, similar to a flat boat and had a board or walk 
running along on the inner sides. In later years the boats were 
finally made after one pattern and most of these were constructed 
at the boat yards of Thomas Bishop & Son, along the Lehigh. 
Mr. Thomas Bishop, Jr., a member of the firm, informed the 
writer some years ago that the last Durham boat was constructed 
shortly after the railroads made their appearance. 




Durham Boat 



This boat was to be used on the Upper Delaware by Major 
William Barnett, who maintained a fleet of them between Easton 
and the headwaters of the Delaware. He describes it as being 
sixty feet long, seven and one half feet wide and, thirty inches 

[ 156 ] 




The Colonial Warehouses Still Standing, also Third Bridge Erected at This Point 1843 




Colonial Warehouse on Delaware 



deep with a fifteen inch running board on both inner sides. The 
lower part of the sides v/as rounded and both the ends were 
bluntly rounded, and embellished with a carved wooden figure- 
head. 

The shores here, where the two rivers meet, are not what 
would be expected of a city that can boast of so many other 
features of natural attractiveness. They are unsightly to the 
extreme, and the tin can edging and other defunct matter is no 
embellishment whatever. However it is hoped that the next 
generation may be imbued with greater progressiveness ; profit 
by the past extravagance and discard that expensive plaything, 
the City Incinerating Furnace; then utiHze the city's waste 
material (garbarge, ashes and sewage) ; combine these three 
elements with the ad-mixture of cement — forming a concrete 
mass, and with this create a river wall with terraced gardens, 
and other architectural features that would add to its appear- 
ance ; erect in the river bed, at the conflluence of the two rivers, 
a colossal monument of commemoration. All this would be a 
greater setting to this otherwise beautiful city than the present 
disfiguration and its freak by night and monstrosity by day, the 
slogan sign. 

Our car will now return to Centre Square, the starting 
point, where we will disembark. And now, hoping that you have 
all enjoyed in full this historical excursion, we will gather within 
the_ shadows of this monument that supplants the old historic 
shrine and conclude in song. 



[ 157 ] 



'"How sweet to my ears are the names of my childhood, 
The names Pennsylvanias worship for aye, 
Aboriginal congnomens heard in the wildwood 
When Indians traversed the Minnequa way. 
Tunhannock, Tamauqua and Hokendauqua, 
Tamananed, Tobyhanna and Tonawanda, 
Meshoppen, Tomensing and Catasauqua, 
I love you, I greet you, sweet sounds of Pa. 

"How mountain, and meadow, and rill, and ravine, 
The broad Susquehanna and Wyoming's ray. 
Spring forth in the landscape by memory seen, 
The Lehigh, the Schuylkill and Lackawanna. 
Lycoming, Shamokin, Monongahela, 
Kittanning, Perkasie and Shenandoah, 
Towamensin — another, not spelled the same way, 
I love you, I greet you, sweet sounds of Pa. 

"The rivulets warble and cataracts roar 
The names that I cherish wherever I stray — 
Manayunk, Conshohocken, Monocacy — more 
Nanticoke, Kittatiny, Shickashinny, Hay! Day! 
My heart leaps at mention of Catawissa, 
Mahanoy, Nesquehoning, how soothing the lay! 
Lackawaxen, Shackamaxon, Perkiomen — what, pray, 
Sweeter than Mauch Chunk (Mock-Chunk as ther s*y). 
I love you, I greet you, sweet sounds of Pa." 



[ 158 ] 




Riverside Park Befoi 




nprovements 



APPENDIX 



($^t\\Hth H^rballg mh MtttpxtUh into iEn^Uali bg 

The writer has been repeatedly requested to furnish infor- 
mation regarding the disappearance and the destination of the 
Delaware Indians_ who once inhabited the regions round about, 
and in compliance would say that while the subject matter here 
contained, is not entirely foreign to the purpose that caused this 
historical excursion, it is perhaps well to make it a part thereof. 
Its vast importance as of record should, it is believed, be given 
unlimited pages of its own, yet it is essential that advantage be 
taken of this opoprtunity by reason of their having recently been 
established a great confederation of all the Indian Nations of 
North America. The objects of this Brotherhood are to teach,, 
obtain and maintain rights, liberties and justice for all Indians 
equal to that of any people and inferior to none ; to preserve and 
perpetuate the ancient traditions, arts and customs of North 
American Indians; to encourage industry and thrift among In- 
dian people; to collect, secure the preservation of and to publish 
ther ecords, papers, documents and traditions of historical value, 
to mark places historic and sacred to the American Indian, etc. 

This organization was perfected at Washington, D. C, 
December the fifth, 191 1, by full-blooded Indian men of promi- 
nence, wealth and education of all the Indian Nations and Tribes 
of America. This grand aggregation is under the leadership of 
a master mind, a man of exceptional intellectual attainments, a 
lineal descendant of a long line of ancient Delaware Kings, 
endowed with all the virtues, poetical and oratorical capabilities 
of his famous ancestor, St. Tammany. This modern Moses is in 
full accord with his people, moving along a line of policy in 
decided contrast to that of other famous Indian leaders who 
figure in our three hundred years of American History. 

The civilizing arid Christianizing of the Delaware Indians 
was a continuous struggle between two opposing forces, one, 
the self-sacrificing spirit of the true Christian principles of the 
German Moravians and the other, the selfish vindictiveness of 
the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians. Thus, after the latter massacred 

[ 161 ] 



the Conestoga Indians, the Lenni Lenape deemed it advisable 
for their safety to withdraw altogether from the interior of the 
white settlements, into the wilds of the Susquehanna country, 
along both the eastern and western branches. The government, 
conscious that they no longer could protect any Indians — whether 
Christians or not — whom they had with difficulty prevented from 
sharing the fate of the Conestogos, requested them to retire into 
the back country. They did so and settled at Wyalusing, fully 
one hundred miles from the frontier settlers. All the other 
Indians of the sam.e clans, living in the Forks of the Delaware 
and the regions round about, migrated still further northv/ard 
and westward. In these localities they lived quietly, built good 
houses, planted fruit trees and cultivated the land. But, while 
they were flattering themselves with the most favorable prospect, 
they were informed that the Six Nations had sold their entire 
country, including the land they lived on, to the English. Then, 
in the year 1768, they determined to again migrate westward. 
The Minisinks went to the Allegheny River, and the Turtle and 
Turkey Tribes, along with two hundred and fifty Christian In- 
dians, went to the Muskingham (now Tuscarawas) in the present 
state of Ohio, then the whole country east of the Allegheny 
Mountains was free from Indians. In this new country they 
lived in peace up to the period of the Revolutionary War, the 
Christian Indians assuming the habits of the white people and 
increasing their number through recruits from the Non-conform- 
ists. But the Revolution put an end to their hopes and a great 
opportunity was lost. It was not the fault of the American 
Government, who were truly desirous of seeing the Indians adopt 
a neutral line of conduct and repeatedly advised them not to 
interfere in the quarrel between the Colonies and the mother 
country, but these poor deluded people were dragged into a war 
in which they had no concern, and by which not only their popu- 
lation was gradually reduced, but they lost the desire of becom- 
ing a civilezed people for the Americans, at last, became ex- 
asperated against them, and considering all Indians as their 
enemeis, they sent parties out from time to time to destroy them. 
The murder of the Christian Indians on the Muskingham in 
1782 completed their alienation, and those who yet remained 
were driven to despair and finally dispersed. The Minnisinks 
finally settled permanently in Canada, affiliating with the strag- 
gling remnants of other tribes, and are now a composite nation- 
ality, having lost their original identity. The Turkey and Turtle 
Tribes, while in the Ohio country, produced some remarkable 
men. Among their number, the one to receive the most notice 
was Koquethagechton (Captain White Eyes) the only American 
Indian to receive a commission of colonel from the American 

[ 162 ] 



Government. His highest ambition was to create the fourteenth 
state in the American Union, from his Delaware land and people 
(this was the land which is now the state of Ohio). However 
these poor Indians were again compeled to migrate to what is 
now Indiana, then again to the Mississippi River, then on to the 
Missouri, thence to Kansas and, in the year 1866, they were 
forced to Oklahoma, where they remain to the present time. 

It was while they were living in Ohio, that the best progress 
was iirst made in civilizing these Indians, and that its first young 
men were sent to school, and here, between the years 1774 and 
1779, they rendered great service in the Revolutionary War 
which was of untold value to the Colonists. The Americans' 
victory at Saratoga was made possible by the Delawares declar- 
ing and making peace and influencing other tribes to be less 
violent, so that only a nominal force was required by the Ameri- 
cans to protect the border. 

One of their bright young men of that period v/as Charles 
Killbuck, a graduate of Princeton College, who in the year 1848, 
then an old man, for the first tim^e in the history of the Indians, 
reduced to writing the legends, oratory and ceremonies that were 
handed down verbally from father to son among the councillors 
and wise men of the nation and from time immemorial held 
sacred among them. In his own words, we here quote as 
follov/s : 

"Were I to relate to you the names by which my paternal 
ancestors were known among their Indian braves, you would 
wonder how it is my name is Charles Killbuck. This is the 
explanation. The palefaces who came to our country found it 
difficult and sometimes impossible to pronounce Indian names, 
so they usually referred to us by the corresponding English 
words. Thus it was our great war captains, Koquetgagachton, 
who was so named from his peculiar eye-balls, . and Koigesch- 
quanoheel Hopocan, a profound lover of tobacco, were called 
Captain White Eyes and Captain Pipe. The title "Captain" was 
added because they were war chiefs. We soon learned to know 
our English as well as our Indian names. My father, Gelelemend, 
was a progressive Indian and learned to speak English in his 
youth. He desired to follow the English customs, and when I 
was quite young he adopted his father's name "Kill buck" 
(Nihilajapen) as the family name and called his sons John and 
Charles. 

I said father was a progressive Indian. The same might 
be said of a number of others in our tribe, among whom was 
Captain White Eyes. Their strongest opponent was Captain 
Pipe. Well I remember in my early years the excited conversa- 
tions passing between two braves, one of whom favored Captian 

[ 163 ] 



White Eyes' or my father's ideas and the other opposed them. 
Of course I thought father was right without knowing just what 
he in fact believed. 

Our sachem, great-grandfather Netavratwes. was in a way 
an adherent to the old customs but he favored the progressive 
party unless the new policies were too radical. 

According to the Indian rules of succession, my eldest 
brother was the heir-apparent to the sachemship and on one 
occasion Captain White Eyes proposed sending him to school. 
Captain Pipe and his followers objected as the whole future of 
the Delaware tribe would probably be changed by having a 
sachem educated in the English way of doing things. But the 
progressive party carried the day, and John was sent away to 
school. Great-grandfather was old at this time, and did not 
realize what John's absence meant until he was gone. Then he 
regretted it. 

It was the duty of the sachem to know the traditions of his 
people, to care for and interpret the treaty belts and written 
documents presented to the tribe and further, to carefully instruct 
the future sachem in such knowledge and duties. While great- 
grandfather had given instructions to John, he realized that by 
coming in contact with the English and more attractive matters 
his teachings would hold first rank in the future sachem's 
thoughts. 

One warm spring day when about eight summers old, I was 
playing near great-grandfather's lodge. He was sitting outside 
and was examining the contents of the open treaty bag beside 
him. Approaching, I noticed he unrolled a parchment, laid it 
on the ground and weighted down the corners with pebbles. 

'My son, this is where our great paleface brother Miquon 
(William Penn) placed his name and here is where Tammany 
and Metamequan placed their marks.' Speaking thus he moved 
his finger along the bottom of the parchment indicating the 
marks. 'What is it father?' I asked. 

'This, my son, is the great peace treaty made between our 
ancestors and the good and great paleface Miquon, many, many 
seasons ago (1683). I was a child then, not as old as you are 
now and we were living far to the sunrise. King Tammany 
called me to him saying that an important meeting was about to 
take place and as I would some day be the sachem it was well 
for me to witness it. He led me to the treaty tree — a large strong 
elm — where we met the palefaces. Then placing the sachem's 
feathers on his head and taking a seat beside Metamequan on a 
log, he bid me be quiet. He then told the placefaces that he was 
ready to proceed. I paid attention to what was spoken and today 
it is as clear to me as on that day. Miquon stood between the 

[ 164 ] 



palefaces and King Tammany. He began by saying that it was 
not their custom to use hostile weapons against fellow creatures, 
that the Great Spirit who made the Indians and the white man, 
who was King of all the Kings of the earth and ruled the world, 
knew the most secret thoughts of men, and could witness that his 
colony of Englishmen desired to live at peace and friendship 
with the Indians and to serve them to the utmost of their power. 
He said he desired to present them with a written treaty for he 
knew now how to make a belt of wampum to represent all he had 
to promise. This is the document, my son,' and the grand old 
brave picked up the parchment and held it so I could better see 
it. Then he continued: 

'As Miquon handed this treaty to King Tammany he said: 
I will not do as the Marylanders have done, call you children or 
brothers only, for even parents sometimes whip their children 
too severely and brothers sometimes differ. Neither will I com- 
pare our friendship to a chain, for rain may rust it or a tree fall 
and break it, but I will consider your people and my people as 
the sam.e flesh and blood, the same as if one man's body were 
divided in two parts.' Great-grandfather paused for a moment 
that I might better retain his words, after which he looked at the 
parchment again and thoughtfully said: 'They promised that 
this treaty should be kept as long as the sun, moon and stars 
would shine and the creeks and rivers flow. As that was not 
written in the treaty when Miquon presented it, King Tammany 
placed the sun, moon and stars in this corner and drew this river 
flowing into the sea that we might remember his promise,' and 
his old finger again pointed to the objects indicated. Then roll- 
ing up the parchment he was silent and looked steadily in the 
distance. I did not interrupt him. 

Finally he spoke again : 'Your brother John is to be the 
sachem at my death, but he is away and I can not teach him.' 
His tone told me he was grieved, and I was ready to offer my 
sympathy. 'Can you not teach it to some one else, father?' I 
ask. 

'None of the young bucks seem to care for these matters. 
They love to hunt too well to learn to repeat these long treaties.' 

'I would like to learn to repeat the treaties, father,' I replied, 
not knowing the nature of the task I was seeking. 

'Your words give me hope my son,' he said as he gently 
drew me to him, and after looking at me earnestly for a time, as 
if reading my thoughts, he added: 'Place your hand on the treaty 
bag and promise me you will repeat what I teach you to your 
children and your children's children, even as our great and good 
King Tammany promised a long time ago.' 

[ 165 ] 



I placed my hand on the sacred treaty bag and repeated, 'I 
will remember your words, my father; I will do as you have 
bidden me.' 

'That is right, my son; that is right, and by honoring the 
customs of your fathers the Great Spirit will be pleased with 
you.' 

As he thus spoke he lifted me upon his knee and then re- 
peated from memory the entire Miquon treaty, and required me 
to repeat it after him. This he continued until I was weary. 
'Now run away, but return to my lodge when the sun rises again, 
for I wish to teach you more,' he concluded. 

As I left the old brave he wrapped the precious parchment 
in a skin to better protect it and replaced it in the treaty bag with 
the wampum belts and strings and carried them into his lodge. 

The next morning, and for many subsequent mornings, I 
went to the sachem's lodge and learned the Miquon treaty so I 
could repeat it as well as great-grandfather— at least so he said 
on one occasion. 

My instructions were not confined to the treaties, but in- 
cluded the laws, the traditions and the history of the Delawares. 
Great-grandfather was without doubt the best authority on the 
history of the Delawares of the century in which he lived, for 
he was present at, and took part usually in all the important 
events affecting his people from the time of the great treaty at 
Sachamexing. 

He always used the same words and the same sentences in 
telling it but as he spoke to m.e in Delaware I can not tell it to 
you in his words as I would like to do." [A short distance above 
Pittsburg is Killbuck's Island. Here is where the Government 
placed the Indian refugees after the Ohio massacre, so as to be 
under the protection of the fort. Unfortunately that protection 
was very lax, and, as the offer of sixty dollars for an Indian scalp 
was still in force, this island was tempting bait for the unscrupu- 
lous bordermen, who finally attacked these helpless Indians. This 
was in the early spring of the year, when the stream was swollen 
and filled with floating ice. Charles Killbuck and his brother 
John endeavored to reach the main-land in a canoe. Charles 
hastily gathered from a large, strong box most of the important 
documents, treaties, etc., and placing them in a bag, quickly em- 
barked in the canoe. Then in their endeavor to prevent the boat 
from sinking and returning the answering shot of the enemy, 
their craft capsized. Both John and Charles swam to shore, 
losing the bag and its precious contents of Delaware Treaties 
and other important historical records. — W. J. H.] 

Another important man of that period was a war chief of 
one of the clans, named Pachgantschihilas, a most renovv^ned 

[ i66 ] 



orator. It was he who visited the Moravian Indians for the pur- 
pose of requesting their removal from their exposed position on 
the Tuscarawas to a place of safety among the Wyandots. This 
was in April, 1781. After delivering an extensive outburst of 
oratory, recapitulating the most extraordinary events which had 
happened from time to time for more than three hundred years 
previous, he concluded in these words : 

'T admit that there are good white men, but they bear no 
proportion to the bad; the bad must be the strongest, for they 
rule. They do what they please. They enslave those who are 
not of their colour although created by the same Great Spirit 
who created them. They would make slaves of us if they could, 
but as they cannot do it, they kill us! There is no faith to be 
placed in their words. They are not like the Indians, who are 
only enemies while at war, and are friends in peace. They will 
say to an Indian, 'my friend, my brother.' They will take him 
by the hand, and at the same moment destroy him. And so you 
(addressing himself to the Christian Indians) will also be treated 
by them before long. Remember! that this day I have warned 
you to beware of such friends as these. I know the long knives ; 
they are not to be trusted." 

Eleven months after this speech was delivered by this pro- 
phetic chief, ninety-six of the same Christian Indians, about sixty 
of them women and children, were murdered at the place where 
these very words had been spoken, by the same men he had 
alluded to, and in the same manner that he had described. 

John Heckewelder, the noted missionary, was present on 
this occasion, and notwithstanding his nearly fifty years of ex- 
perience among the Indians, expressed his astonishment at this 
wonderful burst of eloquence as well as at his versatility and 
retention of memory. Heckewelder mentions other important 
persons who v/ere remarkable for their oratory, but unfortunate- 
ly, he was incapable of translating into English or even into 
German, the grand, musical diction of these poetical people, for 
lack of proper idioms. In fact, all writers on Indian history 
have failed to successfully translate into the harsh, rasping 
English their beautiful expressive forms of eloquence. Long- 
fellow's endeavors to translate the poetical legends of the 
Chippewas brought forth his story of Hiawatha, which unfor- 
tunately, does an injustice to the original and as a portrayal in 
English is woefully lacking. 

And after the failures of the poetical white man, there now 
appear one of their own number, possessed of a remarkable 
creative ability for poetical expression and with a keen conception 
of word forms in both languages. This man is Richard C. 

[ 167 ] 



Adams. (Mr. Adams is a lineal descendant of Captain White 
Eyes from one branch, and Wingenon from the other. Rev. 
William Adams, the father of Richard C. Adams, was the son of 
Mut-tee-tut-teese, alias Wilson, who was the son of Pa-mar-ting, 
who was the son of Pa-kan-kee, who was the son of Win-ge-non. 
The mother of Rev. William Adams was Nancy Connor, who 
was the daughter of Elizabeth Connor, who was the daughter of 
Ak-ke-che-lung-un-a-qua, who was the daughter of Captain 
White Eyes, alias Wi-co-ca-Iind, alias Koquehagechton, a grand 
son of Tammenend (St. Tammany). 

Mr. Adams says : "The reluctancy of the Indian to give the 
world a full view of his religion and faith is, perhaps, the chief 
reason why he is greatly misunderstood. He holds these things 
so sacred that he will say but little about them outside of his 
place of worship, and less to one not of his own blood. 

The Delaware Indians have kept no v/ritten records, but 
have from time immemorial trained certain young men as 
teachers, who are to succeed the older men as they die, and at the 
annual meetings these young men assist in conducting the cere- 
monies, and finally take their places as leaders themselves. 

I have been collecting data for a number of years. I have 
talked with many of the old people, who are now dead, and have 
had some of them review my manuscript. I have attended their 
meetings, and have taken notes while they were going on, and, 
try as hard as I may, I feel that I can not do them justice in my 
effort to translate their orations and songs, for it is almost im- 
possible for me to find words in the English language to convey 
to you the beautiful thoughts our orators express in their native 
tongue. 

One of our teachers of this faith, after being persuaded to 
assist me in this work, said : 'Yes, I will help, because I am afraid 
there are so few of us that our meetings will soon be a thing of 
the past. Our people are becoming too much like the white men 
now ; interested in making money, so much so, that even brothers 
and sisters today do not take as much interest in each other as 
members of dift'erent clans did years ago. This is the result of 
the teaching of the white man, which appeals more to the selfish 
interest of the individual, and suits many of our young people 
better. In following the white man's faith you can do as you 
please until you are ready to die, then, by repenting, can escape 
all responsibility for your acts, and go to Heaven without any 
efl'orts of your own. According to our faith you must follow 
the dictates of your guardian spirit, or conscience, which is the 
connecting link with the Great Spirit, and thus improve your- 
self in each sphere you pass through until you have finally 

[ i68 ] 



reached the Happy Hunting Grounds, and have in some manner 
merited a reward yourself.' 

There are now living in the Cherokee Nation about 1,150 
Delaware Indians. Perhaps two thirds of them can read and 
write. About 200 are full bloods, one-half of whom adhere to 
the old faith, while about one third of the tribe profess the Chris- 
tian faith ; which to me is a most remarkable thing, considering 
the massarce of the Christian Indians in Gnadenhutten, Pa., and 
Gnadenhutten, Ohio, and the further persecution of them after 
that, at the hands of the race who taught them that faith. 

At some future time I may attempt to publish the twelve 
opening orations, and as many of the others as I can obtain." 

THANKSGIVING DANCE 

Traditions of our people as far back as the memories of our 
tribe are that we always had a Thanksgiving Dance. That many, 
many generations ago we came from a far-off country in the 
northwest; came across a land of ice and snow, until we reached 
the Great Fish River, or Mississippi River, where we found 
many people living in that valley who fiercely opposed our pro- 
gress, but, after a long war, we completely overcame them, and 
proceeded on our journey until we finally settled in that country 
watered by the Susquehanna and the Delaware Rivers, our ter- 
ritory extending from the mountains to the tide water. Here all 
the Algoquin Tribes lived near them, and they became powerful 
and rich, so much so that they forgot to give thanks to the Great 
Spirit. 

About that time there was a great famine or drouth. Fol- 
lowing this great earthquakes came, rivers went dry, streams and 
springs started up in places where water had scarcely been seen 
before. Mountains came and disappeared and great fear pre- 
vailed among the people. 

About this time there came to the head chief, or sachem, of 
the Delawares a little boy, who told the chief that his people had 
treated him very badly ; that they would make him do more work 
than he was able to do and would give him but little to eat; that 
he had felt very badly about the way he was treated, but had put 
up with it. Finally, one day his people told him to go out and 
gather some wild sweet potatoes, which were considered a great 
delicacy. He went, and, to show that he was industrious, and 
thinking to get a little praise, or if not that, at least, to escape 
blame by bringing home a bountiful supply, he worked hard and 
got all he could carry. 

He reached home as early as possible, and his people put the 
potatoes on to cook in a large kettle at noon. They cooked them 
until the evening star went down, but before this time they made 

[ 169 ] 



the little boy go to bed without any supper. After he had been 
in bed some time they began to eat the potatoes and other food. 
They called the boy, and he answered, and jumped quickly from 
the bed, thinking he was invited to take part in the feast. He 
was only abused, however, called a glutton and told to go away. 
So, heart-broken and in despair, he left the house and wandered 
aimlessly until he was utterly exhausted. He then went to sleep. 
Before this he was moaning to himself over his unfortunate lot. 
He cried out to the Great Spirit to give him relief. He began 
his supplication with O-oo and heard twelve voices with the 
same sound. 

When he went to sleep there came to hjm a man with his 
face painted red, and as he emerged from the darkness only 
half of his face showed. This man talked to him and told of the 
great things there was in the world beyond ; that his people were 
wicked, not only his own family but all his tribe ; that they had 
forgotten the Great Spirit, which was the reason why the earth- 
quakes and other trouble had been visited upon them and that 
more would follow, if they did not repent. The boy asked why 
he heard twelve voices answer his prayer, and the spirit to whom 
he was talking replied that he would have to pass through twelve 
worlds or spheres before he could get to the home of the Great 
Spirit; that in each sphere there was a Manitou ruling, and that 
no prayer could reach the Great Spirit that did not come through 
the twelve spheres; that his cry had reached the. first, who trans- 
mitted it to the second, and he in turn to the third, and so on 
until the twelfth delivered it to the Great Spirit himself. 

He was told to go to the head chief or sachem and tell him 
that the people should return thanks each autumn to the Great 
Spirit, and when the people all met he should say that the Great 
Spirit sent him to talk to them ; that he was a medicine man, 
made so this night; that he had received the gift of the Great 
Medicine from the Great Spirit himself. He was to tell the 
people they should never be discouraged when trials and tribula- 
tions came to them, and when in that condition, that the Great 
Spirit took compassion upon mortals, and made them superior 
and possessed of great influence over their fellow men ; that 
none of the tribe had gone through as great. trials as he had. 

The chief or sachem called the people together, and renewed 
the Thanksgiving Dance of the Delawares. The little boy told 
what he had seen. He told them that they were to prepare a 
long, large house, and inside this house were to be twelve posts, 
each with a face carved on it, half the face to be painted red and 
the other half black. There should also be a center post with 
four faces carved on it. These posts were to represent the twelve 
Manitous who guarded the twelve spheres through which the 

[ 170 ] 



people should pass to reach the Happy Hunting Ground. The 
center post represented the Great Spirit, who saw and knew all 
things. 

Every year after that they were to return thanks to the 
Great Spirit in the time of the autumn full moon, when nature 
had painted the forest in brilliant hues and the harvest was over. 
The dance was to last twelve days, which vyas the time it would 
take the twelve Mantous to convey their thanks and prayers to 
the Great Spirit. 

All the people are to enter at the east and retire the same 
way. When they come in they are to pass to the right of the 
fire and each clan takes its place, sitting on the ground (skins or 
robes are thrown down for them to sit on) next to the wall. 

The Turtle clan on the south, the Turkey on the west, and 
the Wolf on the north, and, in no case, shall any one pass be- 
tween the center post and the east door, but must go around 
the center post to go to the north side of he dance house. The 
medicine man shall lead the dance. A tortoise shell, dried and 
polished, and containing several pebbles, is to be placed in the 
southeast corner, near the door, in front of the first person, 
known as the orator. If he has anything to say, he will take the 
shell and rattle it, and an answer shall come from the south of 
the dance house from the singers who hit on a dry deer hide. 
Then the parties who had the tortoise shell make a talk to the 
people, and thank the Great Spirit for their blessings, and then 
proceed to dance, going to the right and around the lire, followed 
by all who wished to dance, and, finally, corning to the senter 
post, stop there. All the people shall shake hands with him, and 
return to their seats. Then the shell should be passed to the next 
person, who shall either pass it on or rattle it, as he chooses. 
They shall have a doorkeeper and a leader, and tv/elve oshkosh 
to sweep around with turkey wings, make fires, and serve as 
messengers. The ashes should alv/ays be taken out of the west 
door. In front of the east door, outside, should be a high pole, 
on which venison should hang. The oshkosh shall distribute 
food among the people. The officers and oshkosh are to be paid 
in wampum for their services. In no case shall they allow a 
dog to enter the dance house, and no one should laugh inside or 
in any way be rude. The orators repeat traditions, but each 
party is allowed to speak and tell his dream, or give advice 
Every person has a guardian spirit. Sometimes representations 
of it come in the form of some bird, animal, or anything; at times 
we see it in dreams, and at other times by impression ; and it tells 
us what to do or what will happen, etc. The guardian spirit is 
sent from the Great Spirit. It is the inward voice. 

The last thing, when the dance is over, all the people are to 

C 171 ] 



go out and stand in a line east and west, with their faces south, 
and bow down and thank the Great Spirit, and then go home. 

Some of the Delaware Indians still keep up this dance, but 
the dance house is not so large as it used to be, and theattendance 
now is not more than one hundred. Any Indian of any tribe 
can participate in the dance. 

At the dance all who take part repeat what the leader says, 
both the song and the exhortation. The leader often repeats the 
story of the little boy, comparing our trials to that of the little 
boy who had met with disappointments, but telling that after a 
while the Great Spirit sent him gifts, by which he was enabled 
to overcome these disappointments, or be strong enough to bear 
them. 

Sometimes in their dreams or visions they see men, some- 
times birds or animals, and in telling they do not say they had a 
dream, but say: "There came to me this, etc." 

These dreams and impressions are sometimes used as illus- 
trations by the orator before repeating the orations that have 
been handed down from memory. There are quite a number of 
these orations. On the following are some expressed as nearly 
as can well be translated. 

The historical or opening oration gives one a fair idea of 
what their faith is. Each night the orations are different, and 
each night several dances take place ; and preceding the dance 
will be given an oration of instructions, an oration of thanks, 
an oration of praise and encouragement, or an address in which 
the speaker gives his impressions, and speaks generally for the 
good of the assembly. 

Before the dance closes each night hominy is passed around, 
and all partake of it and say: "For this we are thankful." 

Fire is made with the use of fire sticks by friction, which 
they call pure fire. Smoking is permissable in the dance house, 
but the smoker must use the fire that is burning the center, and 
made by the oshkosh, which is called pure fire. No matches are 
allowed to be used. 

When the Manitou appeared to the little boy his face was 
painted red, but as he emerged from utter darkness only one-half 
of his face shov/ed, and he was singing — 

Ah nah adee looc — hoi la na pa 

Nah an dee loo, hoi la na pe 
Wan nee la na pa wee ta Wa na la na — 

— pe wee ta. Kat tunah Ka lum muck a 

— Kat tum ah Ka lum muck a 
U het mah no la loma coop u het mah ho — 

— la lom a coop Wan e ka Sha lum oh 

— kung Wan e ka Sha lum oh kung. 

[ 172 ] 



The above translated in English means: 

"These Delawares are my own people, and here is where I 
bring them in their days of tribulation that they make supplica- 
tions to my Maker, the Creator." 

SONG OF THANKSGIVING DANCE 

A hu mah too mah Kan nee na op 

A hu mah too mah Kan nee na op 

Yuh pa mee ton uk nun nee 

Yuh pa mee ton uk nun nee 

A lung goo mung wa nee la na pa 

A lung goo mung wa nee la na pa. 

There are many songs they sing at this dance, and the fol- 
lowing is the English translation of the words as given above: 
(This song refers to the Milky Way, which is supposed to be the 
road to the Happy Hunting Ground) 

"There's a highway over there, 
Theres a highway over there, 
Flowing fast towards us. 
Flowing fast towards us. 
Calling to the Delawares, 
Calling to the, Delawares." 

HISTORICAL OR OPENING ORATION OF THE THANKSGIVING DANCE 
OF THE DELAWARES 

Long before our great grandfathers 

Heard the story I now tell you. 

We were once a nation great, 

Who from out the west of north came 

Through a land of ice and snow. 

Came unto the great fish river. 

Where fierce warriors there did meet us 

And quite vainly did oppose us. 

In the course we did pursue. 

When at last we settled firmly. 

In a country rich with game, 

And began to grow and prosper, 

We forgot then to be grateful 

For the blessings that came to us. 

Then there was a little boy, 

Who with sorrow deep was burdened ; 

For his father and his mother 

From this life had both departed. 

C 173 ] 



He with strangers was then living, 

Who abused him without mercy; 

He was forced to many hardships, 

And with hunger did he suffer. 

But the Manitou who rules us 

With compassion looked upon him, 

And at night he came unto him, 

For he heard his cry of sorrow. 

Thus the Manitou spoke to him, 

To the chieftain of the nation, 

Do proceed when comes the morning; 

Say to him that I have called you 

For my people, the Lenape; 

And unless they hearken to me. 

Mighty earthquakes will I send them — 

Then will follow other troubles 

Fast to make them feel their weakness. 

Say to them to build a long house, 

Lengthwise from the east to westward, 

And when the moon is bright in autumn, 

All the clans shall here assemble. 

From the east door they shall enter, 

To the right must they pass forward, 

'Round the fire that's in the center 

'Till the clans all take their places. 

There shall be twelve oshkosh ready. 

Six of men and six of v/omen. 

Who shall keep the fires burning 

And the dust sweep from the dance ground. 

They shall be paid well in v\^ampum 

For their service to the people. 

As the oshkosh makes the fire, 
With the fire sticks in his hand, 
By the constant, tireless rubbing, 
'Till the burning embers come, 
So must we have so much friction 
And must suffer so much pain. 
That our spirits glov/ more brightly. 
By the test of each ordeal. 
When the clans are well assembled 
On the south shall sit the singers; 
On the north shall sit the speaker. 
And a tortoise shell with pebbles 

[ 174 ] 



Shall be placed before the speaker. 
He who feels it in his duty 
To address his fellow creatures 
And give thanks to the Great Spirit 
May attract them with the rattle, 
As from left to right it passes. 

And when all are well assembled 

They should send their thanks with pleasure 

To the greatest of the spirits, 

By the Manitou who greets him ; 

For twelve Manitous are ruling, 

One in each sphere you must pass through 

Ere you reach the great hereafter. 

Where abides the Great, Great Spirit. 

On the wall of the long dance house 
Shall twelve faces there be carven, 
And the post that's in the center 
Carve four faces there upon it; 
This reminds you as you see them 
That e'en Manitous look to him. 
But the Spirit who is greater 
Watches each and all together. 
So to him you must be thankful 
For each blessing you're receiving; 
And to him, when you're in trouble, 
Send a cry of tribulation, 
For, the best of all the greetings, 
Said he this, "they are my people." 
But if we will but remember 
The Great Spirit hears our cry, 
As with right hand thus extended. 
Twelve times call we forth Oh-o-o ; 
And no other message send Him, 
Save a cry of sore distress. 
Who would dare presume to mention 
To his maker what is needed ? 
What to you would be most pleasing, 
May your brother greatly grieve. 
Thus in singing, dance and feasting, 
For twelve days and nights assembled. 
Show him you are glad and happy. 
That you thus have been remembered. 
And are promised greater blessings 
In the lives that come hereafter; 

[ 1/5 ] 



'Till at last you've reached the station 
Where the Great Spirit abideth 
And you'll hear the best of greetings, 
"Welcome here, you are my people." 

You must always help each other 

And respect the older people ; 

You must always teach your children 

To be grateful to their Maker, 

And to try always to please Him 

Daily by their thoughts and actions ; 

That at last when they have passed through 

All the lives that are before them. 

They will fear not then to meet Him, 

And will know that he will greet them 

With the best of all the greetings, 

"Welcome here, you are my people." 

Why should we have been created 
If our existence here is ended? 
Why have we ambition here, then, 
If no progress is beyond this? 
Who is here contended fully. 
Be his station high or low? 
This to you should be convincing 
There is much we have to gather 
In the life we now are living, 
And much more to be accomplished 
In the lives that come hereafter. 
E'er we pass the last divide, 
And shall hear the best of greetings, 
"Welcome here, you are my people." 

There's no person who's so humble, 
There's no person who's so low, 
But who yet my freely enter 
In that chamber where now dwells. 
Those who speak to the Great Spirit; 
But he long may go astray, 
And in darkness may he wander 
'Til at last he finds the way there. 
Thus we are now here assembled 
In obedience to the call. 
While I now repeat the teachings 
You have often heard before, 

[ 1/6 ] 



How to hear the best of greetings, 
"Welcome here, you are my people." 

On the twelfth day of the meeting, 
Just before you do disband, 
All shall march in single file 
To the eastward from the door, 
And when all are well outside 
To the south must you look forth. 
And while standing thus in line 
Twelve times then with reverence bow 
To acknowledge our dependence, 
On the Spirit who is greatest. 
Who, we're promised, yet will greet us 
With the best of all the greetings, 
"Welcome here, you are my people." 

You should never shirk a danger, 

You should never shun a duty ; 

But should always move with caution 

And defend yourselves with vigor. 

Your Creator hates a coward; 

Your Creator hates a liar, 

And he does not love a boaster 

Or a person seeking quarrels. 

If you follow well these teachings 

All the nation will respect you, 

And when you've passed the twelve divisions 

That the future has before you, 

And have reached the final ^station. 

Where the past and where the future 

Have been blended all together, 

And where mystery can not baffle 

Those who hear the best of greetings 

From the greatest of the spirits, 

"Welcome here, you are my people." 

There you'll move with perfect freedom. 
Space and time no more a barrier. 
And the distant starry highway 
You will know and travel often, 
Helping weaker kindred spirits. 
To the limit of the journey 
'Till they reach the height of knowledge. 
'Till they hear the best of greetings 

[ -^n ] 



By the greatest of the spirits, 
"Welcome here, you are my people." 

I have traveled o'er the country that once was our domain, 
Saw the rivers and the mountains, the broad and fertile plain. 
Where the Indian chased the buffalo, the antelope and deer. 
When the smoke from Indian wigwams arose from far and near ; 
Saw the lovely Delaware, where our council fire would burn, 
And all the tribes and warriors would gather there to learn 
The wise teachings of our chieftains and their traditions old. 
And to tell it to their children as to them it had been told. 

A PROPHECY 

Once, many thousand moon ago, to the dancing house there came 
All the tribes and warriors from the forest, hill, and plain; 
And while they were assembled there a young man rose to say. 
The Manitou had shown him in a vision of that day 
From afar a hugh canoe, with pinions spreading wide. 
Coming o'er the waters from across the sunrise side ; 
And in that hugh canoe were people strange of dress. 
All were armed as warriors, though they peacefulness professed. 
They told them of their God, "who came and died for men," 
And they were messengers from Him to save them from their 

.sin. 
But first, they said, they must have land, and thus a home pre- 
pare. 
Then they would teach them truth, and Heaven with them share. 
The young man to the warriors old his vision further told, 
And prophesied that from that day these strangers would grow 

bold ; 
That each would have a different creed to teach a different tribe, 
And when one told another each would think the other lied. 
The young man for his people lamented loud and long; 
He saw the friendship broken that always had been strong; 
Dissension, war, and trouble, their happiness succeed. 
Tribes rise against each other, their warriors die and bleed. 
At last, their faith all shattered, home, game, and country gone. 
Dejected, broken-hearted, he saw them westward roam. 
The Manitou was sorrowful that they should faithless be, 
"And now where is the Heaven the stranger promised thee?" 

THE COURSE OF EVENTS 

And some of the young warriors did live to see the day. 
When across the sea from sunrise, with pinions flying gay, 

[ 178 ] 



Came great canoes with strangers who soon did boldly land, 
And with a friendly gesture, extended the glad right hand. 
Forgetful of the warning, they received them all as friends. 
And made the sacred pledges to share with them their lands. 
The Indians, true and faithful, their promise did fulfill, 
And eager sought the teachings of the white man's God and will. 
The white man gave his promise, they would lead us on to light, 
And "in Heaven we'll be rewarded" they say, for doing right ; 
For there the Bible teaches "our treasures we should store;" 
"If our rights are there established, we need for nothing more. 
And Christians will gladly show us the path the pilgrims trod, 
That leads unto eternal joy in paradise with God." 
So we gave close attention to their actions, one by one, 
And this, as we have found it, is part that they have done. 
They took with pious gratitude the land that was our own, 
They killed the buffalo and deer and drove us from our home ! 
Some of our pleople plead with them, our country to retain, 
While others did contest our rights with arms, but all in vain. 
With sorrow, grief, and suffering, we were forced at last to go 
From the graves of our forefathers to a land we did not know. 
But this was now guaranteed to us, "as long as water shall run," 
Yet on they pushed us, on and on toward the setting sun ! 
"And this will be the last move," they tell us, if we go ; 
"You will hold the country this time as long as grass shall grow. 
"For the good Great Father's promise is a very sacred pledge, 
"And to all his children does he give the greatest privilege;" 
That is, to all children he adopts from every race of man. 
Except the rightful owners of this broad and bounteous land! 
They must in meek submission bow unto the hand of might. 
To them the courts of law are barred, they can make no legal 

fight! 
And when the Indian to the white man makes complaint about 

his land, 
He is told with solemn gestures, "Seek the Government — not the 

man. 
"He will be your good, great father and adopt you as his child, 
He knows better what you need, and will protect you all the 

while," 
But the Father was forgetful of his foster children's care. 
So the Indian, thus discouraged, finds relief not anywhere. 
Will a nation for its actions have to pass the judgment bar, 
Or will God excuse the people, if the deeds the nation's are? 
If the Indian seeks the Government, there his grievance to relate. 
He must first obtain permission from those who rule the State! 
If his rights are there denied him and an attorney he would seek. 
He is sternly then reminded that he has no right to speak ! 

[ 179 ] 



"For under section so and so, which guides your legal move, 
You see no attorney can appear for you, except if we approve; 
And if, in our opinion, your claim does not adhere 
To the interests of the public, then your cause we can not hear." 
"This is a Christian nation," they oft' with pride maintain, 
And even on their money their faith they do proclaim. 
And none can hold an office here in this Christian land. 
Unless he believes in Heaven and the future state of man. 
In every town are churches, God's word is everywhere, 
E'en legislation, good or bad, begins each day with prayer. 
"This is the home of freedom, where justice rules the land! 
And all (save Indian people) their rights may here demand!" 
The foreigner from Europe's shore, or the ignorant African, 
Has the right to sit in Congress' halls and legislation plan ! 
Turning the treaty records o'er, in the first that comes to view, 
I see this gracious Government guaranteed these rights to you. 
And why you're treated as children, or ruled with an iron hand. 
Nor allov.^ed to be politically free, is more than I understand. 
Unless it be, "in Heaven you are to find your treasures dear," 
And your pious Christian teachers are to take "their treasures" 

here. 
When on the day of judgment, their records there to see, 
As God turns o'er the pages, who will the braver be? 
For one is just a savage, his simple faith applies; 
The other one a white man, very highly civilized. 
And. should they be together long enough to treat. 
Do you suppose the white man the Indian there would cheat? 
Or if the chance is given when the judgment's handed down, 
Would the white man take his Heaven or the Indian's Hunting 

Ground ? 

HIS PLEA 

Why should we be a separate people, the target of every man ? 
We, who owned this country once, should be right in the van. 
No one would objections raise, and surely Congress can 
Declare all Indians vested with the rights of every man ; 
And grant us prompt permission to prove our every claim, 
And pay us the obligations the Government has made in vain. 
Then to our oppressors will we prove, who deny our right to live, 
That the Indians will make good citizens, if to them a chance 

you give. 
Let the Indian have some duties, treat him as a worthy man ; 
Give him a voice in the elections, give him title to his land ; 
Give him place of trust and honor, let him feel this yet his home ; 
Let him use his mind and muscle, let his actions be his own ; 
Pay him what is justly due him, let your Government be his, 

too, 

[ i8o ] 



He will battle with each problem just as faithfully as you. 
One who proves himself a warrior, and of danger knows no fear, 
Surely can find ways to master each new problem that draws 
near. 

J. Fennimore Cooper was the only early writer who had the 
moral courage to depict the American Indian in his true charac- 
ter. Novelists write to please white men — to gain their approba- 
tion — -and they know race prejudice is strong enough that the 
presentation of the white man as the hero and the Indian as the 
villain is more acceptable than if they were placed vice versa. 

The three foregoing selections by Mr. Adams can not be 
considered otherwise than as a true vindication of moral Indian 
character. 



[ i8i ] 



OCT 31 1912 



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